


deep in the meadow

by sealineas



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, death descriptions won't be gory really, ill keep it to a minimum, or ill try im impatient so, the friends bit is more like allies but whatever, yeah its a hunger games au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:09:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 35,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29088861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sealineas/pseuds/sealineas
Summary: Adora Grayskull never really wanted to be involved in the games, but as District One's best chance at winning, she knows she should volunteer. She was expecting to be shoved into an arena and left to fend for herself. What she wasn't expecting was to fall in love with the enemy.
Relationships: Adora & Bow (She-Ra), Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 43
Kudos: 88





	1. the reaping

It was still dark when Adora woke up. Usually she wouldn’t mind, but it was reaping day, Mara always let her lay in on reaping day. Adora groaned as she rolled over onto her back. She stared at the ceiling, trying to push away any nerves about the day. Tracing the cracks didn’t help, nerves rolled around in her stomach like an illness she couldn’t ignore.

Adora had never been this nervous about a reaping before, after all, why would she have to worry? Someone would always volunteer to take her place if she got called. But this year was different, she was at the very top of the academy’s leaderboard. She would _have_ to volunteer, all her teachers had made sure she would. She was sure they’d told the other students to not say anything, just so she could go. They thought she could win.

It hadn’t really sunk in until the night before. She was eating dinner with Mara and Razz, like nothing was wrong. But Adora noticed the solemn looks they were casting in her direction. She had tried to ignore it, returning their looks with wide smiles, but she felt it too. The weight of what she was going to do, how it would change the lives of everyone at that small table, had settled over them like a heavy blanket. Except this blanket wasn’t at all comforting.

After a while of laying there, Adora pushed herself up and slipped out of her bed. It was never the most comfortable thing, but it did its job well enough. She didn’t bother to make her bed, instead she made a beeline for the bathroom.

It wasn’t much to look at, just a small toilet in one corner with the sink next to it and a half-broken shower on the opposite side of the room. Adora had seen the shower in Glimmer’s house and knew her own wasn’t supposed to be so brown and shaky. She’d always been slightly jealous of Glimmer, her father was the mayor, so they got all sorts of nice things even Adora couldn’t dream of. 

Like a working shower.

It took at least three tries and then ten minutes of waiting for the water to heat up enough for Adora to get in. Her family wasn’t exactly poor, they had a steady income (thanks to the family bakery) and a secure roof over their heads. But more often than not, most of the household appliances weren’t working. Mara had complained to the mayor multiple times about the issue, but it was never fixed.

She hadn’t even begun to wash her hair when the water ran cold. Adora gasped and stumbled back, her back hit the wall as she panted, trying to get over the shock. Something inside her told her to get a hold of herself, she was supposed to be the strongest fighter this district had seen in years, she shouldn’t be getting scared by cold water. But she pushed that thought away with a quick shake of her head.

Five years ago, just before she enrolled in the academy, Adora had made herself a promise: _I will not let these people turn me into a killing machine_. Everyone had laughed when she told them that on her first day. One girl even told her she was “the weakest student that has ever walked these halls”. So far, however, she had managed to stick to that promise. She’d only killed the odd animal when they had practical lessons on how to kill. Adora had each way memorised, but she didn’t plan on using them. Not until she really had to.

The sun had fully risen by the time Adora left the shower, soaking wet and shivering. The heating was, once again, broken. She didn’t really mind though, it just forced her to get ready quicker. Reapings were always difficult because Adora didn’t own any nice dresses. All she had were pants and shirts. Well, she did have one dress but it certainly was too flashy to wear to the reaping. It was obnoxiously red and rather flowy when she spun. She’d only worn it once, to Glimmers fifteenth birthday party. She wasn’t sure if it would even still fit even though it was only a year before.

Luckily, she didn’t have to worry much longer because Mara walked in, holding a dress Adora hadn’t seen before. “I thought you were still asleep, Dora.” Mara said, a small smile on her face, it didn’t reach her eyes.

“I wake up with the sun.” Adora replied with a small shrug, not wanting to worry Mara more than she already was.

“Well that’s good you can get changed now. Call me when you’re done and I’ll do your hair.” She said, gently placing the dress on Adora’s bed. Before she left, Mara placed a gentle kiss on Adora’s cheek. “I’ll see you in a minute.” Then she was gone.

Adora nodded and stood over the dress. It was simple. Grey with white designs running up from the hem of the skirt to the waist line. The closer Adora looked she saw they were vines, weaving through each other. She quickly dried herself off and slipped it on. It was slightly tight around her chest and shoulders but she didn’t mind. As she buttoned up the top, she looked at herself in the mirror. The skirt was shorter than she had ever worn before, stopping just above her knee, and the sleeves were short but puffed up a bit. In some strange way, it made her look slightly smaller, younger.

She could guess why Mara had given her this dress: if, when, Adora volunteered, she would have to appeal to the Capitol. Of course she would, she was District One, but everyone knew the people of the Capitol had a soft spot for weak children. Maybe she could gain more sponsors that way. It was a smart plan, but not one Adora could keep up. She supposed she would just have to try and show something other than pride when she stepped onto that stage later.

“Okay Mara, I’m done!” She called not looking away from her mirror. Adora didn’t think she could. The fear had started to set in now. She felt rooted to the spot, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She was probably going to die. There was no way around it. Sure she was skilled with swords but she wasn’t a killer, and she couldn’t hunt. Heck she even struggled during survival classes! There was a very slim chance of her winning. Yeah, she had the other Careers, but what when they were the only ones left? Would she be the first they kill?

A hand around her waist pulled her out of her thoughts. Her eyes focused and in the mirror she saw Mara standing next to her, a bag in her hands. She smiled, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Sit down, Dora, I can’t do your hair if I can’t reach. Can I?” 

Adora smiled back and sat down on a stool, Mara must’ve pulled it up when she came in. Gently, Mara started to run a brush through her hair. It was still wet, Adora could feel droplets splashing onto the back of her neck. It was a warm day though, they would be long gone for the reaping.

“Dora, I love you but you really need to start brushing your hair more often. It’s a rats nest.”

“I don’t need to brush it when it’s tied up.” Adora huffed half-heartedly. A few years ago, Mara and Razz had made a rule (a _stupid_ rule) that didn’t allow Adora to wear her signature ponytail to the reapings. She didn’t understand at the time, but she later realised it was to make her look nicer, in case she got chosen and no one volunteered. Which was never going to happen because they always had a volunteer. They were District one and it was an honour to be a tribute.

“It’s for a few hours at most, love, you’ll live.” Mara laughed and put the brush down. Adora hoped she was done, but then she started pulling at strands. It hurt.

“Ow! Mara, what’re you doing to me?”

“Stop being so dramatic.” She responded with a gentle pinch to Adora’s shoulder. Adora only pouted and looked once again to her reflection in the mirror. Mara was fiddling with her hair, she wasn’t quite sure what the woman was doing but she didn’t try to stop her again. Adora just let her get on with it and watched her.

Mara’s brown hair was tied back in a simple braid, from what Adora could see the light was glinting off it, creating ripples that reminded her of waves. She’d only seen the ocean once, when she went with Razz to pick up some supplies for the bakery. It had been so blue and big. She distantly remembered asking Razz if it was glitter. It had sparkled like the jewels she sometimes sees leaving the train station. Adora wished she lived by the ocean, instead of in the middle of the district, surrounded by nothing but factories and mountains.

Adora loved Mara’s hair, it was shiny and never got knotted. When Adora was small, not old enough to be in school, she used to sit on Mara’s lap and play with her hair. She was able to do it for hours on end. Sometimes, Adora wished she could go back to that. Innocent, young, her only problem being why Mara’s hair never got as knotted as her own did. But she wasn’t young anymore, she was seventeen and having her life threatened each year for fun.

“Mara?” Adora asked after a while. She didn’t want to disrupt the peaceful silence they had fallen into but she hated sitting there with just her thoughts.

“Yeah?” She muttered, obviously too focused on her hair.

“What do you think the arena will be this year?” Last year it had been city ruins. The games were over quickly, there weren’t a lot of hiding places when everything was in the open.

“I dunno Dora. I hope it’s a forest, or maybe caves? They haven’t done caves in a while.” Mara said, her voice tight. 

She was right, they hadn’t done caves in a while. The last time they did, the lighting was awful. Not that Adora was alive to remember it, it was one of the early games (maybe sixteen?). She would be going into the seventy-fourth. Seventy four years, how many children had died? Adora didn’t want to work it out, feeling like it would ruin the already somber mood in the house. Adora nodded and tried not to think too hard about the arena.

After a while, Adora noticed the gentle tugs had stopped. Looking in the mirror, Adora noticed that her hair had mainly been pulled back, not a single strand was in her face. Adora grinned slightly when she realised that Mara had disregarded her own rule and tied Adora’s hair into a ponytail. It was higher than usual and Adora noticed there were braids running through her hair. Adora turned on the stool to look at Mara, she seemed proud of her work.

“Thanks Mara.” She said, as she raised a hand to fiddle with a strand (a nervous habit she’d never been able to stop). Mara noticed and slapped her hand away.

“Yeah well don’t ruin it!” She said with a laugh. Adora couldn’t help but laugh too. “And don’t tell Razz it was me, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Adora nodded and stood with a smile. For just a few seconds, Adora could pretend that she wasn’t about to volunteer. She could pretend she was a normal girl, laughing with the closest thing she had to a mother, not a care in the world.

But all her joy was crushed when she heard the bell tower strike nine. The reaping started in half an hour, the earliest in the day. If she listened hard enough, she could hear people in the streets, shouting at each other. The camera’s must be there then. And that meant Casta was coming to announce her death sentence.

Casta was District one’s escort, had been for as long as Adora could remember. She spoke in that stupid Capitol accent and always had a smile on her face. Her hair was as black as coal and stupidly long. She always had it tied up in a tight bun with big sections hanging down over her ears. The strange thing about Casta was that every year she wore the same dress to the reapings: a long purple dress that trailed behind her (it reminded Adora of a wedding dress), a stupid light pink cloak and an obnoxiously large, golden tiara that seemed to float around her head. She was always happy no matter what happened, a few years ago several boys had volunteered at the same time and a fight had broken out, even that didn’t seem to wipe the wide grin of Casta’s face.

“Come on Adora, you can’t be late.” Mara whispered, gently wrapping her warm hand around Adora’s wrist and pulling her from the room. Adora followed silently, not trusting herself with words. She could feel a lump rising in her throat as she was pulled down the stairs and to the door. Christ, she really didn’t want to go, she was probably the only one that didn’t. All the other girls hated her recently, they were jealous of her score. Of what she was going to do. Adora didn’t know why, she didn’t get why anyone would willingly want to die for someone's entertainment. But, of course no one else saw it that way, they just saw it as an honour to play in the games.

The sound of the door clicking shut behind them shook Adora out of her stupor. She glanced at Mara and then down at her hand. Mara must’ve taken her hand at one point. It felt nice, but she should let go. Adora quickly pulled her hand away, letting it fall to her side. She noticed Mara frown but she didn’t say anything. They started walking down the street in silence.

It was crowded with children and adults alike, all making their way to the center of the district. Not like they had a choice though, it was mandatory to watch the reaping, the only exception being if you were too old to leave the house. Most of them were chatting away excitedly, hoping it was their name that got called. It wouldn’t matter though, Adora was going to volunteer. She had to, she’d promised it. Adora never broke a promise.

Looking around, Adora saw some girls from her class in the academy. They didn’t look as excited as the others, one girl (Lonnie? Adora never really paid attention to her) was glaring at her over the crowd. Adora stared right back, she wasn’t going to be put off by a single glare. Lonnie broke off first, turning back to her friends with a huff. Adora smiled and started walking again.

Next to her, Mara was casting anxious looks around the crowd as if someone was going to come out and attack them. “What are you looking for?” Adora asked, looking around too.

“Razz, she said she would meet around here.” Mara said, worry creeping into her tone.

“I’m sure she’s fine, Mar. Probably just finishing up at the bakery.” Adora shrugged. They kept walking but Mara didn’t stop looking.

“Maybe I should go and look for her?” Mara said after a few minutes. They were almost at the center now, soon Adora would be roped off in her pen with the rest of the seventeen year old girls. Mara turned to look at her. “Would you mind? I’ll be there to watch.”

“I don’t mind.” She did mind. “Go and look for her!” Adora tried to not show her upset. Mara smiled weakly before turning around and weaving back through the crowd, searching for Razz. Maybe it was wrong to be upset, Razz had practically raised Mara, but Adora wanted Mara to be there. Not looking for the lovely (if not slightly senile) old woman.

She didn’t have much time to think about it. She had made it to the center and was soon being herded into her area. Adora was used to the cramped area by now. When she was twelve, in her first reaping, it had felt too tight and she’d started crying during the anthem. Now she was able to push away the feeling of bodies pressed up against her’s, no room to move. It still made her stomach crawl but she could ignore it for the next hour.

In no time at all everyone had been signed in and stood in their pens (they weren’t called that but they reminded Adora of where they kept animals before they killed them - she’d seen it on TV once) and the mayor had stepped up to the podium to read the History Of Etheria. It was useless since everyone already knew it, but they kept it in, to remind everyone to stay in their place and not do anything wrong. Adora mainly tuned it out, instead opting to look around at the people in front of her. Since she was seventeen, there was only the pen for the eighteen year olds in front of her. Some of them were so tall Adora struggled to see over their heads. She didn’t recognise many of the girls, in the academy she kept to herself, only talking to Glimmer or her partners she never bothered to learn the names of. Why would she if they might be dead in a few years, and if they weren’t there was no way she could forget them.

Up on the stage were three people, the mayor (still wittering on), Casta and the district’s last winner, a boy called Bow. He’d won two years ago, using his skills in Archery to shoot people from his hiding spot in the trees. Adora wasn’t sure why he didn’t stick around with the other Careers. She was pretty sure he just used them to get to the cornucopia and then ditch when he had everything he needed. It was a smart plan.

That day, he was wearing a white shirt (that had been cropped just below his ribcage) and blue jeans. He was surveying the crowd in front of him, but his eyes kept going to Adora. She shifted under his stare, it wasn’t a mean look, but she didn’t like that he kept looking at her, it was like he knew what was going to happen. It wouldn’t surprise her if he did, gossip about the games always spread.

Adora almost missed Casta starting her little speech, too busy looking anywhere but Bow. Lucky enough she caught the end of it. “- and may the odds be _ever_ in your favour.” Casta looked over the crowd, her grin met with bored or scared expressions. She coughed and grinned wider (Adora couldn’t believe someone’s mouth went that wide). “Now, onto the females.”

The sound of her heels clacking against the stone stage seemed amplified as she walked over to the glass bowl that held every girl's name (oftentimes more than once). She stuck her hand in and rummaged around for a bit before dramatically pulling out a single slip of white paper. She quickly made her way back to the microphone and grinned. As she started to peel the seal, Adora’s heart started to beat faster. This was it, she was going to volunteer.

Time seemed to slow as Casta opened the slip and read the name. “The female tribute this year is…” Adora quickly wiped her sweaty palms on the skirt of her dress and squared her shoulders, standing tall. “Velvet M-”

Adora didn’t let her finish before she called out. “I volunteer as tribute!” Maybe it was rude, but she knew that if she waited even longer she would’ve lost all the courage she had and not said anything.

“Oh? A volunteer! How wonderful!” Casta said enthusiastically. Adora didn’t quite understand that, there was _always_ a volunteer.

She kept her expression blank as she pushed through the girls and walked up to the stage. She could feel the stares on her back as she walked. _Eyes forward, face blank, shoulders back, head up_. Those were her only thoughts running through her head as she made her way up the steps and went to stand next to Casta. “What’s your name dear?” Casta asked in that overly sweet voice that made Adora’s teeth grate.

“Adora Grayskull.” She said into the mic as proudly as she could. It wasn’t an easy feat but she seemed to do well enough because Casta smiled and told her to move to the side. Adora nodded and went to stand where Casta pointed.

Casta did the same for the boys but Adora wasn’t paying attention. She was looking out at the crowd to find Mara and Razz. She didn’t see them at first, her searching got more frantic. If they didn’t show up, they would be imprisoned. Adora didn’t think she could deal with that. Thankfully, she saw them standing at the back. Razz was looking around slightly confused and Mara was smiling up at Adora. Knowing the cameras were on her, she flashed a quick smile back before wiping her face blank.

Looking around again she saw Glimmer standing in the pen for sixteen year olds, she was grinning so wide it could probably rival Casta’s. Glimmer was really the only one that looked proud, a quick look around the rest of the crowd she could see most girls were glaring at her. It was almost funny, she’d saved someone from an untimely end and they all still hated her. But she kept her laughter until after the reaping. Here she had to be stone cold and brave.

“Now the tributes shake hands.” Casta said, turning to face Adora and a boy she didn’t really know. He was tall, rather buff. His hair was cut short and his eyes were light brown. Adora shook his hand quickly, his grip was tight and she almost frowned at him. Instead she squeezed his hand harder, smiling slightly when he gasped and pulled away in shock.

They turned back to the crowd as the anthem played again. It finished and Adora was whisked away into the City Hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you enjoyed, leave a kudos or comment!!
> 
> find me on tumblr: @historianadora


	2. goodbyes and the train

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so after this week, i'm going to try and post weekly on either saturday or sunday. i was just really excited to get this chapter up so it's early!! i also just want to say thank you to all the kind comments i got on the last chapter!! thank you to everyone who's read this, left a kudos or commented, it's really lovely!!
> 
> also i promise that they'll meet for real next chapter. i actually can't wait to write it so it might be another early chapter, oops- but yeah the story should pick up soon, the games should start in maybe 2 chapters?? thats what i'm aiming for anyway so fingers crossed.
> 
> i'll let you enjoy the chapter now shshahshdjs

Adora was escorted through the building by two peacekeepers. They stood next to her on each side, making sure she couldn’t escape. Not like she could if she wanted to, there was no way she was faster than two fully grown men. She kept her eyes forward as she walked down the white halls. Adora had never been in City Hall before, Glimmer had offered a tour but she always said she had other stuff to be doing. She didn’t know why she stayed away from the building, it’s not like she would get in trouble for going in there, she was Glimmer’s best friend and Glimmer was allowed practically everywhere in the District. Maybe it was because she knew that one day, it would be the last place she saw anyone she loved. Walking through the pristine halls felt like a death sentence in itself and she hadn’t even left the district yet.

A few minutes later she was shown into a wide room. Adora heard the door lock as she looked around. The walls were made of white bricks and the floor was marble, when she looked closer, she could see different shades of gold and gray mixed into the white stone. Looking around, Adora noticed an unlit fireplace sitting on the wall opposite to the door, it was made out of the same marble as the floor. She’d never understood the love for marble, it was used in almost every building. Even the public toilets had marble pillars outside them. The material was everywhere you looked, Adora wasn’t sure why they had so much, considering most of it was supposed to go to the Capitol.

In the middle of the room there was a purple sofa made out of velvet, two armchairs and a small, wooden table sitting between them. She sat down in the armchair closest to the door and waited. She knew the next hour wasn’t going to be easy. She would probably cry when saying goodbye to Mara and Razz, the sting in her eyes growing with each second she was alone. 

She wasn’t alone for long though, the door opened and Mara and Razz came in. Adora sat up and smiled sadly as they entered. Surprisingly, Razz reached her first. The old woman didn’t say anything at first, just stared deeply into Adora’s eyes. Adora really wanted to look away but something in those brown eyes made her still.

Finally, Razz moved away. “You can do it, Mara dear. You’re strong.”

“It’s Adora.” She mumbled under her breath. Razz was always confusing Mara and her, she wasn’t sure why, they didn’t look similar at all. Mara had brown skin and a dazzling smile. Adora on the other hand was pale (even though she liked to train outside) and was constantly frowning. They were practically polar opposites but still Razz mixed them up.

“Don’t be silly, Mara.” Razz said and went to sit down on the sofa opposite her. She turned to look into the empty fireplace and started muttering to herself.

“She’s right though, Dora.” Mara said, perching on the arm of Adora's chair. Adora looked up and raised a brow, sure she could get as far as the last four, but what then? “I’m serious! You’re fast, great with a sword and an amazing fighter! Adora you could easily win this if you want to.” Mara said, she took Adora’s hand in her own.

“But I’m not a killer, Mara.” She said quietly, her vision started to swim and she knew she was going to cry.

“Oh honey.” Mara pulled Adora into her chest and held her. It reminded Adora of when she was little and had nightmares. She would pad into Mara’s room, crawl under the sheets and press her small body as close as she could to Mara. Mara never complained once, Adora was pretty sure she enjoyed it, holding her.

“I don’t think I can do it, Mar.” She choked out, trying her hardest to hold her cries in.

“Of course you can, love. You’re smarter than all those brutes combined, you’ll be fine.” She then leant down to whisper in her ear. “Just get them to kill for you. Dora you just have to pretend to know what you’re doing and they’ll follow without a second thought.” Adora thought about it and found herself leaning towards that option more each second.

“Okay.” Her voice cracked and she pulled away, rubbing her eyes. Mara smiled down at her comfortingly. “Do you really think I can win?”

“Of course we do Dora!” She sounded proud, so proud it almost made Adora start to cry again. But she didn’t. She couldn’t look like she’d been crying when the hour was up. Instead, she opted for a small smile.

“Adora dearie, give her the token.” Razz said from across the room. She hadn’t looked away from the empty fireplace and continued her conversation with herself. She’d been doing that a lot the last few years. Apparently she hadn’t always been like that, Mara told her once, that she used to be as sharp as a needle. But then old age started to wear her down. Those conversations always made Mara sad, so Adora never really brought it up. She’d learnt to put up with the nonsensical mumblings of Razz.

“My token?” She asked, looking at the two of them. Adora hadn’t put much thought into it. In fact she’d all but forgotten about the tokens. The token was one small item each tribute got to take from their district into the Games. Usually it was a pin or a small toy, sometimes even jewelry. Once a girl took a small wooden ball and dropped it off her metal circle and got herself blown to bits before the games even started.

“Yeah. We wanted it to be your jacket, y’know the red one?” Adora did know, it was her favourite jacket, she nodded. “Well, apparently it’s too big so we chose this instead.” Mara was holding out her hands, they were cupped around something small. Adora held up her own hand and Mara gently dropped something into her palm.

It was a badge, no bigger than a coin. It was a gold circle with something that looked like wings coming out from one side. In the middle as a small blue gem, probably a diamond. Adora looked up at Mara in awe. “It’s beautiful, thank you.” She whispered.

“It was my lucky charm when I was your age, I wanted to pass it down.” Mara replied with a small shrug. Adora nodded again and held it tightly. She could feel it pressing into her palm but she didn’t mind. She needed to keep it safe.

That’s when the peacekeepers came back in. They stormed into the room, grabbed Razz and Mara and started to pull them away. “We love you Dora! You’ll do great!” Mara called as she tried to face Adora. The peacekeeper was too strong and all she could do was twist her head to shoot one last smile at her.

They were gone before she could even reply.

Next in was Glimmer and her father. The door burst open and Glimmer ran over to give Adora an extremely tight hug. “Hello!” She gasped out, quickly wiping the last tears away. 

“Adora! You’re going to do great! I know you will!” Glimmer said as she pulled back, leaving a stunned Adora standing in the middle of the room. “Gosh, my best friend in the games! This is such an honour!” She laughed.

Adora already missed Glimmer and she hadn’t even left yet. She knew she would miss the short girl’s excitement. She would miss how Glimmer always knew when Adora needed someone to talk to (they joked it was her sixth sense). Adora would even miss the odd colours she would dye her hair - no one knew how she got hair dye, it wasn’t really allowed in the Districts but Glimmer was the mayor’s daughter so she got away with most things.

“Glim, I haven’t even left yet. You can wait an hour before you start going around using my name to get whatever you want.” Adora laughed. Often, when someone volunteered for the games, their friends would go around shops and use their friendship with the tribute to get free stuff, Adora found it quite funny (especially when random kids started doing it, even if they hardly knew the tribute).

Glimmer turned back to her with a grin on her face. “Isn’t this so exciting Adora? You’re going to win!”

“We don’t know that I’m going to win.” Adora said quietly, the smile dropping off her face.

Glimmer frowned and walked over to her, arms outstretched. Adora practically fell into her friend’s embrace. “You’ll be fine Adora. You’re the best in the District.” Glimmer’s words didn’t do anything to calm her down, but they were nice. It was nice knowing that there were people that believed in her. _Really_ believed in her and didn’t just think that because she was District One she could win.

“I know, I’m just worried.”

“About what?” Glimmer asked, confused. She was probably thinking something along the lines of: _What is she worried about? How can I make it feel better?_

“I don’t want it to happen to me too.” She replied in a whisper.

“What will happen?”

“I don’t want to come out of it a monster. They always do.” _If you even come out of it_ , a cruel voice at the back of her mind reminded her.

Glimmer was silent for a while before answering. “You won’t. But if you do, I’ll help you remember. We all will.”

“Promise?” She knew she sounded weak, knew her voice had cracked. But she didn’t care. This was glimmer and her father, not a random stranger.

“I promise.” Glimmer tightened her hold for a second before stepping back to her father. Adora looked up at the man. His dark hair was pulled back out of his face, in a loose bun at the back of his head. He smiled warmly at her.

“Don’t worry, Adora. We’ll all be here when you get back.” He said, his voice full of confidence. He then turned to Glimmer. “We should go now, before they take us away.” The peacekeepers wouldn’t do that, they wouldn’t grab and pull like they had done to Mara and Razz.

“Yeah. Bye Adora.” Glimmer said, wiping a tear that had begun trickling down her face.

“Stop crying Glim, or you’ll get me started.” Adora laughed half-heartedly.

“We’ll see you soon, yeah?” Glimmer asked. Sometimes Adora forgot Glimmer was younger than her, she always tried to act older, more mature than she really was. But standing there, clutching her father’s arm, it suddenly hit Adora that Glimmer was just sixteen. She shouldn’t have to worry if her best friend was coming home or not, but she was, and it wasn’t fair.

“Yeah.” Adora nodded, trying to sound confident. "I promise." She wasn’t sure it had worked because Glimmer didn’t stop looking at her with concern until the doors closed behind them.

Adora was alone again, but probably not for long. Soon she would be taken to the train station and would be at the Capitol within the day. The thought made her clutch her badge tighter. She hadn’t let it go since Mara had dropped it into her hand half an hour ago.

She was right. Not even five minutes later, two peacekeepers opened the door and led her out of the room. Adora quickly wiped her face again, trying to get rid of any signs of tears as they walked to the car.

Adora had only been in a car a few times with Glimmer and the mayor. Driving with them was always nice and relaxing, now all she felt was fear as they drove from the hall to the train station. Luckily, it was a short drive and no one spoke. Well, Casta tried to spark up a conversation but Adora and the boy (whose name was still unknown to Adora - maybe she should pay attention more) stayed silent, looking out of the windows as their home passed by. It could be their last time looking at it so it seemed they were both trying to take it all in.

They made it to the station in five minutes. Even through the tinted windows of the car, Adora could see camera’s lining the small pathway from the car to the train. Quickly, she schooled her expression into one of practiced pride and pushed the car door open. She stepped out and held her head high as she waited for Casta to get out and lead the way. Looking up, Adora saw herself on one of the big screens. She was slightly surprised when she realised she looked extremely confident, as if she hadn’t been crying only twenty minutes ago.

“Come on my darlings!” Casta’s voice rang through Adora’s ears and she had to force herself not to frown. She just silently followed Casta to the train, ignoring everything else around her.

Whoever designed the trains had spared no expense, there was a huge crystal chandelier in the middle of the car, and that was only the ‘lounge’ car (as Casta fondly called it). Adora wondered what the rest of the cars were like, and the uses for them. District One was so close to the Capitol they certainly wouldn’t have to sleep in the train. The lounge car had a whole wall dedicated to a bookshelf. She could tell the train was already full of completely useless things and she’d only been in one car for maybe five minutes.

Five minutes and already they were nearing the edge of the District. Adora could see the mountain range barricading the Capitol from the Districts getting closer and closer. If she wasn’t being taken to her death, she might’ve thought the view outside the window was pleasant.

She didn’t get much of a chance to look though, because Casta was herding her and the boy to their own cars. “You can’t walk into the capitol looking so raggedy.” She’d told the two as she pushed Adora into her own car.

She didn’t really look around the car, heading for the chest of draws by the door which she suspected held clothes. She pulled out a blue shirt and black pants, not really focusing on matching, and walked into the adjoining bathroom.

Adora turned on the shower and let the water run for a few minutes, usually she would worry about wasting water. But this was the Capitol’s water and she didn’t give two shits about them, so she didn’t feel guilty. She stripped off her dress and carefully folded it up on the counter. Slowly, she started to undo her hair. First taking out the ponytail and then carefully undoing each braid separately. Once it was all done she stepped into the hot stream for the second time that day.

Adora was back in the lounge car twenty minutes later, her damp hair hanging around her shoulders. She was sitting in an armchair facing the window, so she couldn’t see the rest of the car. A book was on her lap, but she hadn’t opened it yet. Honestly, she didn’t know what the book was about. She’d just picked the first one she saw. Adora could’ve read, it would take her mind off her predicament, but instead she stared out of the window, watching the empty fields roll past. In the distance she could see houses, she wondered what District it was. It certainly wasn’t One because most of their buildings sparkled in the sunlight (thanks to the marble or other materials they used). Adora was never good at geography, all she knew was that the Capitol was over the big mountain range, so she couldn’t make an educated guess either.

“That’s Three.” A voice next to her said. Adora jumped out of the chair and spun around. She had to swallow her scream. In front of her, Bow stood with his arms crossed and a brow raised. “I thought you would be more alert, Adora.” He said, he didn’t sound impressed.

“Well, you surprised me.” Adora replied, trying not to glare at him. She knew it was a weak excuse, especially since he was right. Bow hadn’t finished his training when he volunteered for the games, he was only fifteen at the time. Adora wasn’t sure why he did it, if she made it out, she would ask.

“If you get surprised by me, you won’t last an hour in that arena.” His voice was empty.

“My guard was down.” Adora was suddenly defensive. She didn’t have a reason to be, Bow was right.

“Don’t put it down again.” Was all he said before he turned to the window. She huffed but went to stand next to him. She would have to put up with him for the next week if she wanted to get out of the arena alive. She had to now, she’d made a promise.

“How do you know it’s Three?” Adora asked after a while. The houses were long gone now.

“The smog, it wasn’t as noticeable when we went past, but when you’re there. It’s suffocating.” He said as if it was obvious.

“Oh.” Was her intelligent reply. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She thought back to before his games. They’d been in the same year at the academy. From what she could remember, he was always smiling and almost always top of his class. Glimmer also seemed to like him a lot, always looking at him during lunch break. He was completely different now, tough, not a single smile on his face, no light in his eye, it was like part of him died in that arena.

“What?”

Adora blinked at him and frowned. “Nothing, I’m just thinking.”

“Well go and stare at someone else, like Casta.” He nodded in the direction of the woman. She was sitting on the other side of the car, actually reading a book.

“Don’t be so full of yourself, I wasn’t staring.”

“Yes you were.” He replied, the corner of his lips twitching up.

“Fuck off.” She mumbled and looked back out of the window, frowning. She heard a quiet chuckle and felt a pat on her back.

“I’ll see you later, Adora.” And with that he was gone.

“That could’ve gone better.” She mumbled to herself quietly as she sat back down. Curling up on the chair, she picked the book up and looked at the cover. It was black leather with gold words imprinted on the top: Surviving The Wilds: Plants. _Well, this might come in handy_ , she thought and opened the book.

The sun had begun to set and they still hadn’t arrived at the Capitol. It seemed they were taking the long way around, probably to amp up anticipation in the Capitol. Adora had read her book three times to keep herself occupied. But even that was becoming tedious. Thankfully, the runthrough of the day was going to be broadcasted soon, at least she would have something to do. Adora stood up and stretched, she’d been sat in the same place for God knows how long and she needed to move. Tucking her book under her arm, Adora decided it was a good time to go exploring.

She didn’t get very far. As soon as she stepped out of the car, someone bashed into her and her book fell to the floor. “Watch where you’re fucking going.” She hissed and picked up her book.

“It wasn’t me who was daydreaming.” The person muttered. Looking up Adora saw that it was the male tribute (she should probably learn his name).

“I wasn’t daydreaming, I was planning.” Adora said, glaring at him.

“Planning.” The boy scoffed, “I thought you of all people would already have a clear strategy.” When Adora didn’t reply, he stuck his hand out, seemingly waiting for her to shake it. “I’m Adam by the way.”

“I know who you are.” She replied stiffly.

“Mhm, sure you did.” He was grinning slightly. Adora stared down at his hand. “You’re supposed to shake it.”

“Yeah, I know.” She said and shook his hand. They each tightened their hold, in a silent competition. Adora knew there was no love lost between the pair. They were enemies now.

Adam let go first. “Well, if you don’t mind, Adora. I’m going to watch our show.” He said, pushing past her and going into the lounge car. Adora clenched her fists, trying her hardest to not start a fight. That would get her nowhere. She needed to be smart about this.

Adora sighed but turned around and followed him back into the car she’d just been in. She wasn’t sure how long they were out there, but it seemed long enough for Casta and Bow to come in and get seated on the big sofa in the middle. When the door closed behind her, Casta turned around, smiling brightly. “Oh there you two are! We can start now!” Adora’s frown deepened as she walked over to one of the armchairs.

Adora didn’t really pay attention to the recap, nothing interesting was said, it was practically the same every year: names get called, someone volunteers (sometimes), the anthem and then they’re gone. When Adam and Adora’s faces flash on the screen, Adam makes a loud _WHOOP_ sound, almost like he’s excited. Adora’s lip curls but she doesn’t say anything.

Only one tribute stood out to her, the girl from District Seven. She stood tall as her name was called, no less than a grin on her face. She hadn’t even tried to hide it. No one had volunteered for her, probably a good idea because Adora suspected she would’ve fought anyone who spoke up. The girl didn’t seem proud, more relaxed. She was so calm you wouldn’t think her name had just been called. Looking closer, Adora saw that the girl’s eyes were two colours, one light blue and the other was such a light brown it looked yellow in the sunlight. Her hair was wild, it looked as though someone had tried to gel it down but gave up and just tied it in a tight bun at the back of her head. Adora thought she was rather beautiful, but quickly took it back when she remembered that she was the enemy.

“Uh, Adora?” Bow said. Adora’s eyes shot to him. He had a small smile on his face.

“What?” She asked, a small blush creeping up her neck.

“You were staring.” He said smugly.

The blush wasn’t so discreet anymore. “I was not!” She said, crossing her arms.

“Yes you were.” Bow chuckled, turning back to the TV. Adora sat there, in a stunned silence, not even watching the last few Districts. As soon as it ended, she shot up, mumbled some excuse about needing the toilet and left the car, her book forgotten on her chair.

She practically ran through the train to her own car. She slammed the door and locked it before diving into her bed, not bothering to change. Adora had never been so flustered in her life, she didn’t really have the time to when she had been training. It felt awful, her face was hot, all the windows were opened and she still felt hot. Was she sick? She couldn’t have got a fever that fast? No she wasn’t sick, she was extremely embarrassed. Adora let out a small whine and buried her head further under her sheets.

Laying there, curled up under the unfamiliar sheets, she suddenly felt a lot more than embarrassed. All the feelings she’d pushed down during the day had come back to rear their ugly heads. Adora felt overcome with sadness and she couldn’t contain it any longer. The first few tears dripped down her cheeks silently, but it didn’t take long before she was shaking with loud sobs. Adora pulled the covers tighter over her head, feeling like they blocked out the morbid reality she had to live in. She knew what was going to happen when she went into that arena, she would fight for her life, killing others along the way. But she’d been trained, illegally, the kids from lower Districts wouldn’t stand a chance.

It hurt to just think about it. They must be scared, and some of them were so young. Children as young as twelve would have to play this sick game because of something they had no control over. Adora hated the Capitol, all those rich idiots that had just got lucky. They’d been lucky to be born in the Capitol and not the Districts. That’s all, they’d got lucky. She knew it was a sick thought, but deep down Adora wanted to see how long Capitol citizens could last in the games. They could see how it felt to live in fear for their life for once. Adora shook her head to get rid of that, no one deserved to be put through the games. _So why do you have to play?_

Even as Adora’s sobs subsided, she didn’t move. She stayed under the sheets until she fell into a fitful sleep.

\---

Adora woke up to a loud banging on her door. “Adora? We’re almost at the Capitol. Casta said you should be ready in ten minutes.” Adam shouted and continued banging. Adora groaned and pushed the sheets off. A quick look out of her window told her it was early in the morning, the usual blue sky had streaks of orange and pink, the sun was still coming up.

“I’m up. I’m up alright!” She called back, chucking one of her many pillows at the door. Adam’s laughter retreated down the hall.

Adora sat up, rubbing her face. It felt stiff, probably from crying so much the night before. She huffed and stumbled into the bathroom, still half asleep. She didn’t bother to shower, having showered twice the day before. Instead she just splashed her face with water and brushed out her hair (it looked like rats tails). Glancing at the clock on the wall, she saw there was still six minutes until she needed to be with the others. _Maybe I should actually try to look nice today._ She thought to herself and pulled open a few draws. Her eyes were drawn to a white shirt with long sleeves and grey pants. She quickly slipped them on and was mildly surprised that they fit her perfectly. Vaguely, she wondered how they knew her measurements, but didn’t think about it too long, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Finally, she pulled on a pair of white boots and made her way out.

She was halfway to the door when she remembered the badge. Adora ran over to the neatly folded dress and saw that on top, glinting in the sunlight was her badge. Gently, she fixed it to her belt. It was her only reminder of her home and she wasn’t planning on leaving without it, even if it made them slightly late.

Adora took her time finding the others, she walked slowly, dragging her feet and scuffing her shoes against the polished floors. Without thinking, Adora started twisting a strand of her hair around her finger. Finding the tugging sensation relaxing as she walked through the narrow corridors.

After about five minutes, she wound up back in the lounge cart. Pushing the door open she saw the two guys sitting down in the same spots as the night before and Casta pacing. When she entered, Casta’s eyes shot to her, she was glaring "Where on earth have you been, Adora?” She asked, all happiness gone from her tone.

“I was getting ready?” Adora glanced to Bow helplessly, he shrugged.

Casta stepped closer. “Adora, you’re going to ruin all our images if you make us late. You were supposed to be here six minutes ago!” Adora’s free hand clenched into a fist. _I will not hit Casta. I will not hit Casta._ She repeated to herself, like a mantra. Adora opted to tune out the rest of the lecture. She really didn’t care about her image, or anyone else’s for that matter. Why should she care? If she won her reputation would be restored and if she lost, no harm done. Besides, it wasn’t like she was really late for anything, they hadn’t even gone through the Mountain Tunnel yet. “... Are you even listening to me?” Casta asked angrily.

“Yes, Casta.” She nodded, smiling brightly at the woman as their cart was plunged into darkness. _We must be in the mountains now._ She thought, turning away from Casta. The woman just huffed and stomped back to the sofas, sitting down with a dramatic sigh. Adora rolled her eyes and went to one of the windows. If they were going through the mountains, the Capitol was just on the other side. Suddenly, light burst through the darkness and Adora blinked rapidly, trying to clear the stars now in her eyes. When they were gone, Adora caught her first glimpse of the Capitol.

It was even more breathtaking in real life than what they showed on the TV, the camera’s hadn’t done a good enough job. The colours were much more pronounced in real life. The yellows were so bright it looked like the people and buildings were glowing. All the buildings were glistening in the morning sun, it looked magical. What really took Adora’s breath away was the height of some of them, a few were almost as tall as the mountains themselves. It was a miracle they stayed up during storms. It looked like paradise, and in a way, it was. Nothing bad ever happened to the people living there. The worst thing that had probably happened was a certain dress going out of stock.

As they pulled into the station, Adora noticed more and more people pointing to their train, rushing over to it. They all wanted to catch a glimpse of the District One tributes, ‘the gems of the Capitol’. So many people were pointing and waving at her, all she wanted to do was hide away and never leave the train. But if she wanted to have a chance at winning, she would have to gain a lot of love, fast. So she mustered up the brightest smile she could and waved to the crowds. Adora felt someone at her side and turned to find it was Adam, following her lead. However, his smile looked more like a grimace. Adora had to bite her lip to stop herself laughing. He caught her looking and frowned. “What?” He asked.

“You just look funny that's all.” Adora replied, turning back to the window and the crowds before her. 

The train slowed to a stop and Casta came to pull them away. “Good energy you two, keep it up for the rest of the week.” Casta seemed to have forgotten her upset and was smiling brightly. Bow was standing behind them, when he saw Adora looking, he stuck two thumbs up.

“No promises.” Adora mumbled, letting herself be pulled over to the doors. In a second there would be hundreds of people and cameras in her face, it would be difficult to ignore them. She would just have to pretend to enjoy the attention.

Casta ignored her and stood Adam and her next to each other. “Smile wide, stand up straight, you’re on camera!” She said as the door slid open. They were his with a wall of noise and flashes. Adora tried not to flinch when several cameras flashed at the same time as she stepped onto the platform.

People were asking her questions, but she couldn’t hear them over the general noise of the train station. She could feel people grabbing at her, but she ignored it. She looked forward and smiled brightly. She was in the Capitol now, she’d just entered the last few weeks of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to tell me about it in the comments!!
> 
> find me on tumblr: @historianadora


	3. the capitol - day one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everyone, good news: Adora and Catra finally meet in this chapter!!! just a heads up though, they have an argument, and i'm not sure if its just because i've read it a billion times but i don't really like it but i think that if you're just reading this chapter for the first time it shouldn't be as bad as i think it is.
> 
> also just watch out for mentions of death

Adora had been in the remake Center for about two hours and her ‘team’ had been waxing her for the last thirty minutes - which was a surprise, because Adora shaved a few days before so she didn’t know why she suddenly had so much hair. She’d never been waxed before, of course, she never really had a reason to do it, training wasn’t a beauty contest. The Games weren’t either but the week leading up to them sure felt like it was. The nicer someone appeared, the better chance they had at getting sponsors, and if Adora wanted her plan to work, she needed sponsors. So she lay on her metal table in silence as her team ripped all the hairs off her body.

Her team was rather strange (probably not by Capitol standards, but Adora wasn’t from the Capitol, so she found them strange). It consisted of two women and a man: Fauna, Orchid and Grass. Fauna was a tall woman who seemed to have implanted antlers on her head (even though, in the myths, fauns had horns). Orchid was a very typical Capitol woman, a big, blonde wig, heavy makeup and an extravagant, brightly coloured (in Orchid’s case bright pink) dress. Grass was short, stout and had green skin, his hair was also green and stuck up, just like blades of grass. Adora wondered if they based their entire personality off their names, or if it was just a coincidence Grass looked like grass.

A particularly violent tug pulled Adora out of her thoughts, she glared at Fauna and bit down on her lip - she didn’t want to complain just in case they knew sponsors. “Sorry my dear.” Fauna said with a small smile. She set down the strip she was holding on a metal tray and clapped her hands. “Oh look at that! I think we might be done!” She said, looking to the others for confirmation. Adora didn’t look behind her to gauge their reactions, but it seemed as if they were happy too.

After two hours of being washed, plucked and waxed, Adora felt raw, like a chicken about to go in the oven. Maybe it was a weird comparison, but the longer she lay on the table, her team circling her, she started to feel like a piece of meat. “So, am I done now?” She asked tentatively, she hoped they caught her underlying question: _can I put some clothes on now?_

“No, _we’re_ done. You still need to go with Perfuma.” Grass said, his head popping into Adora’s line of sight. Before she could ask what he was doing, he pulled out his tweezers and plucked a hair off her eyebrow. Adora grunted and frowned, but didn’t object to it.

Adora really didn’t want to go with Perfuma, back in District one, she’d heard all sorts of stories about stylists. None of them good. She’d also seen the awful outfits some tributes had worn years before (vividly remembering that one year District Twelve had been naked and covered in coal dust). Sure, District One never had outfits that bad, but they never looked great either. Needless to say, Adora’s hopes weren’t at all high.

“We’ll call her up now.” Orchid said, turning away from Adora to a small table by the door. Adora nodded and sat up, pulling her knees into her chest. Fauna and Grass just stood around, seemingly forgetting Adora was even there. She didn’t mind, preferring them when they weren’t staring at her, scrutinizing every inch of her body.

After a minute, Orchid walked back over to her, smiling gently. “She’s on her way.” Her voice was warm, completely unlike the other’s high pitched, loud voices. Orchid had barely spoken during the time she was there. Only speaking to ask for a tool or reply to her teammates.

“Thank you.” Adora whispered, looking down at her knees. She suddenly felt rather bad about disliking the trio, they weren’t being anything but kind to her and she was treating them like crap.

Orchid placed a hand on Adora’s head. “You’re going to look beautiful tonight.” She said wistfully.

Adora scoffed. “You say that to everyone?” She asked, immediately feeling bad about her tone.

“I do. But I really do mean it Adora.” Surprisingly, she didn’t seem upset. Maybe she’d been doing her job long enough that she stopped paying attention to the comments.

Adora just hummed and rested her chin on her knees, eyes on the door. She just prayed that Perfuma wasn’t going to make her look stupid, if she was going to win she would need to impress people, and she couldn’t do that if she looked like an idiot. Some small part of her also wanted to impress that girl from District Seven, but Adora decided to ignore that part of her. It was a stupid part of her, she couldn’t get soft especially for someone she would have to kill at one point.

Orchid ran a hand through Adora’s hair as they waited. Adora liked the feeling, finding it relaxing, not that she would ever admit it outloud. She slightly leaned into Orchid’s hand and hoped the woman didn’t notice. Unfortunately, she did, Adora heard a chuckle from behind her and stiffened. “I won’t tell anyone, don’t worry.” Orchid whispered to her and continued to run her hand through her hair. Adora just nodded stiffly and decided not to move again. She could feel a bright blush working its way up her face so she buried her head in her hands. Orchid laughed again and patted her back.

They stayed like that for another ten minutes before the door creaked open and the room fell silent. Adora could only guess that meant Perfuma had come and she would be left alone with her very soon. Adora realised she didn’t want Orchid to go, finding the woman’s presence comforting. Maybe she shouldn’t be thinking that way about someone who was probably extremely excited about the games, but something about Orchid made it hard to hate her.

“Thank you all, but I’ll take over now!” Perfuma said, her voice came as a shock to Adora. Her accent was dulled and she didn’t have that weird pep every other Capitol citizen she had met so far shared. Adora still kept her head down, not wanting to look up yet.

“Remember, you’ll look beautiful tonight.” Orchid said, Adora could hear the smile in her voice. Adora nodded again, smiling to herself.

Her team left and a few seconds later she was left alone with Perfuma. She didn’t have to look up to know Perfuma was staring at her, looking over every inch of her team's work. Thankfully, she sounded pleased, humming to herself as she went. Adora hesitantly glanced up and saw Perfuma standing in front of her, a wide grin on her face. “Hello, Adora!” She said, sticking her hand out. Adora stared at her for a second. She seemed so... normal. Like she could be living in the Districts. The only thing was the flowers in her hair, but it was hardly as strange as Faunas antlers. “What?” Perfuma asked, her hand sagging.

That caused Adora to react. She quickly shook Perfuma’s hand and smiled at her. “Nothing. You’re just…” She trailed off, she didn’t want to call her ‘normal’ in case it came off as an insult.

“Not what you were expecting?” Her smile became more comforting. Adora nodded, blushing again. “Don’t feel embarrassed, I get that a lot.” She shrugged and came and sat on the edge of the metal table.

“Why don’t you dress like them?” Adora asked, the words slipping out before she could stop them.

“Oh, well,” Perfuma paused, thinking, “I don’t like fitting the stereotype, I suppose.” She said with a small shrug. “Plus, this is all vintage, from before the Districts and the war.” She added, sounding proud of herself.

Adora’s jaw dropped to the floor. “How on earth did you get them?”

Perfuma grinned and held a finger to her freckled nose. “That’s classified.” Adora laughed and felt herself start to relax. Perfuma clapped her hands, as if remembering something. “But this isn’t about me, this is about you. My star!” She said, hopping off the table.

Adora frowned and shuffled back slightly. “Am I going to be naked?” She asked quietly.

Perfuma laughed loudly. “No, no of course not!” She managed in between laughs.

Adora relaxed at that. “So what am I wearing?” Hopefully, it wasn't something completely stupid.

“Well, this year we wanted to go with a warrior theme, like the Gladiators from those old stories. To link it back to your district, we added diamonds to the headpieces. So it isn’t overwhelming.” Perfuma, Adora quickly realised, talked very fast when she was excited. Adora almost didn’t catch what she was saying. But she did and in all honesty, she was happy with the concept. However, ‘gladiator’ threw her off, she didn’t know what that was. They never really learned about History past the beginning of Etheria. But she went along with it, not wanting Perfuma to think she was stupid.

“That doesn’t sound too bad.” She replied slowly, trying to imagine what it would look like.

Perfuma nodded. “I’ll go and fetch it, then we can start getting you ready!” She clapped excitedly and turned to leave. Just as she reached the door she turned round and smiled. “You don’t have to sit there naked. There should be robes in the wardrobe.” Perfuma pointed to a brown cupboard in the corner of the room. It stuck out like a sore thumb, Adora wasn’t sure how she missed it when she came in. She turned to thank her, but Perfuma was gone and Adora went to slip on a robe.

She stood by the window whilst she waited. She was on a higher floor, so looking down, all she could see were colourful specs bustling in the street. If she squinted, she could see people looking up at the building, probably trying to catch a glimpse of a tribute. The thought made Adora want to step away from the window, but something made her stay. She stared down at the multitudes of people, going about their daily business, probably excited for the week's entertainment. Because that’s all it really was, all she really was to these people, entertainment. Bitterly, she thought that once she stepped on that train, she lost all humanity to these people. As lovely as Perfuma and Orchid were, she was really just their doll for the coming week. Adora could feel anger bubble in her stomach but quickly squashed it when the door flung open.

“Okay, I think we just need to check your measurements. It should fit but you can never be too careful.” Perfuma muttered as she came in, a white bag and a big box in her hands. Adora watched from the window as Perfuma put the items on the table. She watched as Perfuma unzipped the bag and delicately pulled out two hangers with clothes hanging off them. The first hanger held a white shirt with a golden hem, in the middle of the shirt was a design. It could almost be a star but each part was a slightly different shape from the last (the most noticeable being the middle lines, being a sort of triangle shape, pointing inwards to the center of the design on each side). The sleeves were very short, pointy, and the same colour as the funky star on the shirt. The second hanger had a simpler item of clothing, a white skirt that looked _way_ too short, fortunately she saw there was a pair of shorts sewn underneath.

“It looks great, Perfuma!” She said, smiling up at the woman. Perfuma held out the hangers.

“Well, get changed, then we can add the accessories.” She smiled. Adora gulped but took the hangers, staring at the clothes. “I’ll be outside.” Perfuma said and slipped out of the room.

Slowly, Adora pulled on the outfit, finding that it fit her like a glove. Again, she wasn’t sure how they did it, but honestly, she didn’t want to know. It was weird, but she figured how they did it was weirder, so she decided to live on blissful ignorance. Adora knew she shouldn’t, but she started to fiddle with the blue diamond embedded in the center of her shirt.

Almost as if sensing Adora was trying to ruin her work, Perfuma burst back in, holding a pair of white shoes with a tall heel, and golden accents. “Oh, don’t you look brilliant!” She said excitedly. She waved her hand in what Adora could only assume was a beckon. Adora shuffled over, tugging at the hem of the skirt. “Stop pulling, you’ll break it.” Perfuma said, slapping her hand away from the skirt. Adora didn’t know what to do with her hands, they just hung uselessly at her sides. Perfuma didn’t seem to notice her sudden awkwardness, she dropped the shoes at Adora’s feet, told her to put them on then went over to the box.

Adora did as she was told, pulling the shoes on quickly. They went halfway up her shins and weren’t tight, much to her surprise. She walked a few steps, trying to get used to the heels. Not that there was much to get used to, Adora had practice with heels (thanks to Mara) plus, they fit perfectly.

Perfuma beckoned her over to the table and opened the box, practically shaking in excitement. Adora peered inside and saw it was full of gold things. Adora reached in and pulled out a crown thing. It was a thin headband, a downwards triangle in the middle of her forehead (a diamond, matching the one on the shirt sat in the middle of the triangle) and two big wings on the side, probably just above her ears. Vaguely, she wondered if Adam would be wearing something like she was and had to stifle a laugh.

Perfuma seemed to be focused on something else. She pulled out two armbands then grinned widely when she saw what she was after. She pulled out a big piece of red fabric. Adora frowned, wondering how the red fit with the rest of her outfit. It didn’t really, at all. Maybe it wasn’t for her?

Of course, that was wishful thinking. Silently, Perfuma spun her around and pulled back her hair, clipping the fabric to her shirt. A cape. She was wearing a fucking cape. Christ, Mara would never let her live that down. “A cape? Really?” She asked, looking down at the cape with disdain.

Perfuma huffed. “It looks perfectly fine, Adora.” She said and started to clip the arm bands to Adora’s forearms.

“I’m sure I look great, I just didn’t expect the red, that’s all.” She replied, suddenly defensive.

“Relax, I’m not upset.” Perfuma chuckled quietly and stood back, admiring her work. _Relax_ , it appeared to be the only thing she couldn’t do. “Okay, put the tiara on, then you’re free to go.” Perfuma said.

Adora put it on her head with a frown. “What about my hair? You haven’t done anything to it.” She said, glancing in the mirror on the wall and patting her hair down. Her bangs had fallen back into place, covering her forehead, and her hair was curling at the ends. The tiara somehow made her hair look even more blonde than it actually was.

“We prefer it out and natural, it frames your face better that way.” Perfuma said, coming up behind her and pushing her hair forward so it was over her shoulders. “Oh, look at you, my warrior.” Perfuma said softly. Adora stared at herself. She did look very ‘warrior-like’ or, what she imagined a warrior would look like. She smiled at her reflection, happy that she looked nice and not as stupid as she thought she would. “You’re going to blow them away tonight, Adora.” Perfuma said, squeezing her shoulders gently. “But, I won’t keep you any longer.”

“Wait what?” Adora asked. “I thought we had to wait until the parade to go out?”

“Oh, you can’t leave the building, but you can go once I’m done with you. And seeing as you were the first District here, we’re done earliest. You can go and get lunch now.” At the mention of lunch, Adora’s stomach rumbled. Then she remembered she hadn’t actually eaten since two nights ago, at that awkward last dinner. God how had she stayed functional this long?

“Where should I go?” She asked, rubbing her stomach absentmindedly.

“Uh, I don’t think they’re done setting up the floors in the Tribute Center yet so, you might have to eat in the communal canteen downstairs?”

“Wil… will anyone else see me?” Adora asked, suddenly nervous.

“I doubt it dear, I don’t think anyone else is done yet.” Perfuma smiled warmly and started to push Adora towards the door. “Don’t spill anything over yourself, I probably won’t have time to wash it out for the parade!” Perfuma said, pushing Adora out of the room. The door slammed behind her and suddenly Adora was standing alone in an unfamiliar building dressed like a fucking warrior.

She huffed and started to look for the stairs, or an elevator, maybe even just a sign, anything that could point her in the direction of food. Adora felt extremely embarrassed as she wandered around the halls, all as white as the last, looking for something. Maybe she should ask someone? With the amount of rooms she’d walked past, there was bound to be someone who knew where to go. _But what if another Tribute is in there?_ A voice reminded her. That would be awful if she walked in on another Tribute, it would probably also put her at the top of their kill list. Okay then, no asking. She would do this the hard way.

Adora didn’t realise she’s bumped into someone until she hit the floor with a rather graceful, “Shit!” She didn’t even pay attention to the person at first, instead worrying about her outfit. If she ruined it Perfuma would have a fit. She shot up and brushed the skirt down quickly, turning around to peer at it. She let out a relieved sigh when she saw that there wasn’t even a speck of dirt. Only then did Adora turn to whoever knocked her over, but she wished she hadn’t.

She was face to face with the girl from District Seven. Up close her eyes were even more beautiful. Unfortunately, Adora didn’t get to look for long because the girl burst out laughing. “Oh my God, what the _fuck_ are you wearing?” She asked in between laughs.

“Uh, it's my outfit?” Adora said, feeling a blush rise up her neck.

“Yeah, I got that. But what is it meant to be? You look stupid.” The girl said, trying to get control of herself.

Adora shrugged and laughed nervously. “A warrior?” She said lamely.

“Is that what they told you?” The girl scoffed, crossing her arms. 

Adora frowned and examined the girl’s outfit. It was a skintight jumpsuit, the material looked to be made out of tree bark itself, but upon closer inspection it had just been dyed different shades of brown. So Seven was sticking with the tree theme. “Well at least I’m not dressed like a tree.” She replied after a second, raising a brow.

The girl stepped closer, having to stand on the tips of her toes to reach Adora’s height (usually Adora would make fun of that, but something about the girl told her that if she did, she wouldn’t just laugh it off), and stared into her eyes. Adora stared right back, unblinking. Up so close, Adora could see specks grey in the girl’s blue eye, in a weird way, it reminded Adora of a marble - cracked, but put back together again. Not like she cared about what had happened to her (deep down, Adora knew that it was a lie, she did care about the Tribute from District seven, even if it was a stupid and lost cause), why should she? If they were going to kill her, Adora wanted to avoid all contact with other Tributes. Her other eye was the complete opposite, a mixture of light and dark brown, reminding Adora of the forest that stood just past the District border. She could see it from the window of her bedroom, tall, unmoving. Watching the first rays of light slip through the trees was a comfort Adora always had. Her eye reminded her of that comfort, filling her with a longing for home.

Vaguely she wondered what it would be like if they could be friends instead of rivals. But then the girl blinked and Adora stopped staring. “Right, well I’ll see you around.” She smirked and turned around. “ _Princess_.”

“Wait!” Adora called out to her, deciding to ignore the nickname.

She turned around, an amused expression on her face. “What do you want?”

“I was just wondering if you knew where I could get something to eat.” Adora asked.

The girl scoffed but walked over to Adora. In all honesty, Adora was just expecting her to continue walking away, or just point in the general direction of the staircase. The girl didn’t do that. No, that would be too easy, to let them stay apart, be enemies. Instead, the girl took her hand and started to pull her down the corridor. “This _isn’t_ because I like you.” Adora heard her mutter.

Adora hummed and smiled. “Are you sure about that? I mean, you’re holding another Tribute’s hand.” She said. The girl only tightened her hold, causing Adora to smile wider. In a strange way, this girl’s hand felt right in her own, almost as if they were made for each other - no, no she couldn’t think like that. Not about another Tribute. Adora tried to push the thoughts away as they walked, the girl always a few steps ahead. “I’m Adora, by the way.” She spoke up after a few minutes of silence.

“I prefer Princess.” The girl grumbled, dragging Adora around a corner. Adora scowled but didn’t reply, she knew this girl was just trying to get under her skin and she refused to let her. “Catra.” She said after a while, they turned another corner and suddenly Adora could smell food. Looking around she saw a staircase to the left of the hall.

Catra let go of Adora’s hand and stepped away from her. Adora smiled at her. “Thank you, Catra.”

“Yeah, don’t mention it.” Catra mumbled. “Like, never mention it again.” She added with a glare.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it.” Adora grinned, making her way down the stairs. As she went down, she saw the room below was empty except for four long tables, pushed up against each wall, each full of food. Some she recognised, like the rolls and meats her District had to offer, but most of it was unfamiliar. Adora turned back to the stairs and saw Catra lurking in the shadows. She raised a brow. “Are you waiting for me?” She asked, amused.

Catra startled and made a sound quite similar to cat hissing. Adora struggled to hold in her laughter as Catra stared at her angrily. “Stop laughing.” She grit out.

“I’m not laughing.” Adora said, a giggle bursting from her as soon as the words left her mouth.

Catra crossed her arms. “I’m serious, stop it!” Adora nodded and coughed, pushing down her laughter. She blinked at Catra, waiting for her to answer her previous question. “What? Stop staring at me.”

“I’m not staring at you, don’t flatter yourself.” But, she had been staring, not that she would ever tell anyone, not even Glimmer. Catra just hummed and leaned back against the wall, one leg up for balance. “You have to answer my question or I won’t get food and we’ll be here until the Games.” She spoke up after a few seconds, watching Catra shift under her gaze.

“For fucks...” She muttered but turned to face Adora. “Yes, yes I was waiting for you.” Adora couldn’t see from where she was standing, but Adora got the distinct impression that Catra was blushing

“Awe, Kitty!” Adora said, the nickname practically rolling off her tongue. Catra stood still but flexed her fingers, seemingly willing herself to stay calm.

“What? Couldn’t have the bright new star of Etheria get lost on her first day.” Catra scowled at Adora, it didn’t phase her though, she’d seen scarier facial expressions on a bunny.

“No, of course we couldn’t.” Adora said, deciding to go and get food. Catra had gone back to lean against the wall and staring at her had started to get boring. It seemed she was being ignored.

She hopped off the last step, stumbled slightly (she’d completely forgotten she was wearing heels) and grabbed a plate. Adora started to fill it with all kinds of food: rolls from her District (she also made sure to pick up Seven’s just in case Catra wanted one), chicken, pork, and something that looked like a stew of some kind. “Are you hungry?” She called up the stairs as she went in search of a fork.

“No.” Catra called back. Adora took that a yes and - when she located the forks - picked up two.

Adora went back up and found Catra in exactly the same place as before. Silently, she handed her a fork and leaned against the wall too. “I said I wasn’t hungry.” Catra muttered.

“Yeah well, we have all the food we can eat here, why waste it?” Adora asked before taking a big bite out of a roll.

Catra frowned and glanced down at Adora’s plate. “I’m sure food was never an issue for you.” She mumbled, stabbing a piece of chicken with her fork.

Adora looked up. “What?”

“You’re from One, right?” Adora nodded, swallowing loudly. Catra’s lip curled but she continued. “Well, then I highly doubt you've had a problem with food.”

“Because I’m from One?” Adora asked, slightly confused.

“Fuck, are you stupid? You’re from the richest District, you probably haven’t struggled with anything you’re entire life!” Catra’s voice was rising, Adora glanced around nervously. If someone were to see them together… “God, have you _ever_ gone to bed without a meal?”

“No, but we don’t live these perfect lives you all think we do.” Adora said, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice. She didn’t quite understand what she had done to bring on this unprompted argument.

Catra just laughed coldly, throwing her fork down on the plate. “‘You all’... What, you mean ‘poor people’?”

“No! I just meant people from the lower Districts.” Adora tried to keep her tone even but it was getting harder with each word that left Catra’s mouth.

Catra pushed off the wall and turned to her. “But that practically means the same thing to you doesn’t it? You think everyone in the lower Districts are dirt poor? Do you know why that is? Why so many of us can hardly provide for our families?" Catra asked, her voice dangerously low. Adora shook her head, she didn’t know. "Because all the money gets funnelled into One and Two, Adora. That's why the lower Districts have so many poor people, it's because people like _you_ ," Catra poked Adora's chest, hard. "Are practically taking other people's hard earned money for yourselves." Adora shook her head, eyes wide. No, no that wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t her fault she was born into One. “Fuck Adora, I’m from Seven! That’s just over halfway and I can list the amount of people that live like you on my hands! Can you even comprehend that? _Seven_! It only gets worse after us.” She finished, stepping away from Adora, a fire in her eyes. Adora stood still. That couldn’t be right? Could it? She didn’t understand why Catra was mad at her, it's not like she controlled where the Capitol put their money.

Catra started walking down the hallway. Usually, she would've run and caught up, but after what she just said, Adora didn't think Catra wanted to be anywhere near her. Instead she stood still staring down at her plate, her appetite long gone. Adora looked out of the window and saw that the sun was beginning to dip below the mountains. “Shit.” She muttered to herself. Setting the plate down on the floor and bolting down the corridor.

Trying to remember exactly where Catra took her, she turned down the white corridors and soon found herself a few steps behind Catra. Well, at least she knew she was going in the right direction. Apparently Catra didn’t think of it like that because she spun around, a scowl on her face. “Are you fucking following me?” She asked, all warmth her voice may have held gone.

“No, I’m just trying to get back. Is that an issue?” Adora shot back, slowing down so she didn’t have to walk besides Catra.

Catra turned back around, crossing her arms over her chest. “No, it isn’t.”

They didn’t talk the rest of the way. Catra always a few steps ahead, Adora following behind on her tiptoes (her heels not the best shoes to go sneaking back into her room). A minute later Catra stopped in front of a door. “This is you.” She muttered, eyes locked on the floor.

Adora decided not to dwell on how Catra knew exactly what room she came from, she hadn’t been standing outside of it when they bumped into each other. “Right, thanks.” Adora said, hand on the golden handle. “I know you’ll look really good tonight.” She whispered, pushing the door open and slipping inside before Catra got a chance to reply.

She slammed it behind her, not trying to cover the fierce blush blooming on her face. “Oh good, you’re back!” Perfuma said, running over to her with a bag in hand.

Adora looked at it skeptically, hoping Perfuma would ignore her red face. “I thought you said I was done?”

“Well, it seems your team forgot to add the extra makeup I asked for.” Perfuma said, breathing deeply. “But it’s completely fine! Sit down, we don’t have long.” She said, pushing Adora back to the table. Adora sat down and let Perfuma apply some gold paint to her face.

* * *

Before long, Perfuma was practically pushing her towards the stables. By the looks of it, she was the last tribute to arrive. Adora wanted to look around for Catra but she could hardly catch a glimpse of the large room before Casta was in her face. “Adora! You’re late, _again_! Did you forget what we talked about on the train?”

“Casta, you can yell at me later, can I just go to our Chariot?” Adora huffed, looking around. The stable took up the whole bottom floor of the Remake Center and was almost entirely wooden. The smell of horse poo was almost overwhelming, but she knew that as soon as she was on the streets it wouldn’t matter.

Casta muttered something but took off, Adora following behind her. She kept her eyes on Casta’s back, feeling the stares of other tributes on her. Did she look that bad? No, if it was awful, Catra would have certainly made a bigger deal out of it. _Maybe,_ a small voice whispered in the back of her mind, _maybe it’s because you look beautiful_. Adora smiled at that and held her head a bit higher. Soon, they were standing in front of the golden Chariot. If Adora didn’t know any better, she would’ve thought it was made out of solid old. But it wasn’t, there was no way the Capitol wouldn’t waste that much material on a single District. “On you get!” Casta said, her voice back to her usual level of enthusiasm.

Adora stepped onto the Chariot, gripping the bar tightly so she didn’t wobble. “Don’t fall off.” She heard someone next to her whisper. Adora frowned and glared at Adam (who was in a very similar outfit, just missing the skirt and funny tiara).

“It’s not my fault I can’t balance well in heels.” She hissed back, standing up straight. Adam chuckled and slipped his hand around her wrist. “What the fuck, Adam?” Adora asked, trying not to wobble again as their Chariot took off and went into the streets. 

“Come on, Adora, they’ll love it.” Adam whispered through a bright smile. Adora rolled her eyes but moved her arm so that they were holding each other's hands.

She smiled up at him innocently, quickly looking forward again when they rolled into the long street taking them up to the City Circle. He glared at her slightly. “What? They’ll love it, remember.” She said but knew it was lost over the roar of the crowd.

Speaking of the crowd, it was as if everyone and their mother’s had come out to watch the Parade (not surprising though because this was the most exciting thing for the Capitol until the Games themselves). Thousands, if not millions, of people lined the streets as the twenty-four Tributes rolled through. It was rather overwhelming and made Adora want to curl up into a ball and hide, but she couldn’t do that. She needed to survive and to do that was to appease the Capitol and seem strong. So that’s what she did. Clutching Adam’s hand so hard she probably cut off blood flow, she grinned widely, held her head high and started to wave.

That usually wasn’t what District One tributes did, usually they just stood there, staring ahead, and the Capitol ate it up every time. But Adora didn’t want to do that, she decided. She wanted to be likeable, almost like a friend to them. “Adora, what the hell are you doing?” Adam asked, having to raise his voice to be heard over the crowd.

“I’m buttering them up.” She called back, her smile never leaving her face. “Now, stop talking and join in.” She squeezed his hand tightly, fingernails digging into the back of his hand. He did as he was told.

“I’ll get you for this, Grayskull.” But it sounded half-hearted at best. Adora tried not to let his tone phase her, she would think about it later, once they went to bed.

“Give it your best shot.” She replied, her grin turning into a sincere smile.

After about five minutes, her arm had started to ache but she kept it up. Waving at every person she could. It was as if all the attention was on them, District One, the Capitol’s warriors. But the attention came to a sudden end when thousands of people picked up a singular chant: “Seven! Seven! Seven!” Adora felt Adam move next to her, he dropped her hand and turned around.

Adora put her waving arm down and frowned at him, but he wasn’t paying attention to her. Following his gaze, Adora surveyed the line of Tributes to land on what she thought was a ball of flame. She was about to start panicking when she caught a glimpse of a very familiar scowl. Catra and the boy from her District had matching jumpsuits but they could hardly be seen through the flames surrounding the pair. Adora understood what their Stylists were trying to do, make one of the lesser known Districts stand out and shine so brightly. They were giving them a chance to win. “Holy shit.” She heard Adam whisper, eyes wide.

Adora focused on Catra. Her hair was in an intricate braid and was hanging over her shoulder, not being touched by the flames, leading Adora to the conclusion that they were fake. Catra was staring ahead, probably ignoring all the attention (which Adora didn’t really understand, they’d been taught to never ignore direct attention from the capitol). It was as if Catra could sense Adora looking, because they made eye contact. Catra smiled smugly and made a twirling gesture with her index finger. She was telling Adora to turn around. Casting a quick glance behind her, Adora noticed they were almost at the City Circle, almost to President Prime. She looked back to Catra, rolled her eyes then turned to face forward again, tugging Adam’s arm to get him to move.

“Adora, did you _see_ that? They’re on _fire_!” He cried, looking more excited than Adora had even though he could be.

“It isn’t real, Adam.” Adora murmured, eyes on the President as they rounded into the City Circle. He was a tall, skinny man, his white hair was tied back for the Parade and he wore a whit suit with a green handkerchief in the breast pocket. 

Adam nudged her gently. “I think you’re just jealous.” He said, smiling. Adora scoffed but kept her eyes on the President. He wasn’t looking at her yet, probably wouldn’t at all. After all, to him, she was just another Tribute. “No, I’m serious. You’re jealous you got outdone by District Seven.”

“I am not.” She replied, finally looking away from the old man. Okay, maybe she was a bit, but who could blame her? She was District One, the Capitol’s favourite, she was practically promised sponsors from the moment she stepped on the stage. Now, she would have to fight for them, just like the others.

Adam hummed and took her hand again. “Yes you are.” When Adora glared at him, he laughed. His eyes flitted to the presidential balcony and his smile dropped. Adora frowned and turned to see the President looking right at them, a small smile on his face. But it made Adora feel uncomfortable, it sent shivers down her spine. But she didn’t look away, Adam didn’t either. They kept looking until President Prime looked away. She heard Adam let out a relieved sigh. “Isn’t he kinda scary?” He asked, voice low. Adora just nodded, tightening her hold on the Chariot.

As soon as they were out of the City Circle and on their way to the Tribute Center, Adora let go of Adam’s hand. “Why’d you do that?” He tried to hide his hurt but Adora could feel it, rolling off him in waves.

Adora looked at him and arched a brow. “Adam… We can’t be friends, you know this.” She whispered, ignoring the cheers from the crowd. Maybe it wasn’t the best time to have that conversation, but when was there ever a good time to talk about your impending doom?

He nodded sadly and turned away. “I just thought, since we both might never go home again…” He trailed off. Adora was surprised to hear him talk like that, they’d both been trained to win the Games, but it was never fully guaranteed. He took in a deep breath, “we’re all we have left of home.” His voice was almost lost in the noise, but Adora heard it.

She sighed, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Adam, if we become friends, it will only make it worse.” Adora whispered. He was right though, they were all each other had left (well, along with Bow, but he would go home no matter what happened), and Adora didn’t really want to eat meals and train in an awkward silence. “But,” She felt Adam stiffen, “I’m willing to be your friend, just until the Games.” She made sure the last part was clear, they couldn’t be friends in the Games, it would only make everything harder.

Adam spun around, causing the Chariot to wobble (in turn, causing Adora to let out a small squeak), and grinned at Adora. It took her by surprise, how different Adam was then to how he was on the train just the day before. It was a nice surprise though, a welcome one. She smiled up at him, hoping it was friendly. In all honesty, she’d only had one real friend before, so she didn’t have much experience with friends. “You won’t regret it, Adora!” He cried and went in for a hug.

Adora pushed him back. “Did you forget we’re on live TV?” She asked, trying to keep the laughter out of her voice.

Adam sighed but stood back in his place. “Well, it gives them some excitement, what with us acting all friendly _and_ what Seven were wearing.” Adora sighed but pulled Adam into her side with one hand (the other still firmly wrapped around the bar on the Chariot) and leaned into him.

As they rode away from the City Circle, Adora knew the cameras were back on them (or, some of them at least, there was no way the Capitol would ignore this, two District One Tributes hugging each other and laughing). She wondered what the people back home were thinking, would they be proud? Or upset that their reputation as a strong, stone-cold District was being ruined by two teenagers who missed their families? How were Casta and Bow going to react to them and their… friendship?

She didn’t have to wait long. Before she knew it, they were rolling into the Tribute Center. Casta was on them as soon as the horses stopped moving. “What on _earth_ was that?” Her voice was shrill, she was angry. Adora wriggled out of Adam’s hold and stepped down off the Chariot.

“That, Casta, was keeping the Capitol entertained.” She said, grinning widely.

Casta turned to Adam. He held his hands up in surrender, “What? It keeps the sponsors on us and not Seven.” He said, just as Seven rolled into the Center. Adora made it a point to not look straight at Catra, turning away from her entirely and walking over to their horses.

She could hear Casta still going on behind her, but she didn’t have the energy to care, it’d been a long day and all she wanted to do was sleep. But she couldn’t do that until they’d changed and had dinner. At the rate Casta was going on, they wouldn’t get to their floor for another hour at least. So Adora stayed with the horses.

Adora didn’t know much about horses, but Capitol horses were bound to be extremely well trained, so she didn’t really worry about what they would do. She stood next to the one on the right and tangled her hand in its mane. “I’m going to call you…” She trailed off, thinking. When she was little, she saw a huge cheetah on the TV, it ran so fast it left a trail behind it. Adors remembered looking up at Razz and saying that if she had a cheetah she would name it Swift Wind because they ran like the wind. Sure, this horse probably wasn’t as fast as a cheetah, but she didn’t care. “Swift Wind.” She smiled fondly. Swift Wind just looked at her, but didn’t make a sound, so Adora hoped it was a good thing.

Casta was still shouting and it seemed like Bow had got involved somehow. God they were probably making a huge scene. “Fuck, Swiftie, I don’t think I can do this.” She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. “What if I’m the one that has to kill him? Or what if I refuse and he kills me? What if I let everyone down?”

“You didn’t strike me as a Horse Girl, Princess.” Catra’s smug voice came from behind her.

Adora glanced up, took in a deep breath and turned around. “Hello Catra.”

Catra was leaning against a pole, her arms crossed over her chest, smiling. “Hey Adora.” She pushed off the wall. “So, you talk to horses?”

Adora rolled her eyes and stepped back. “New hobby.” She said with a shrug. “What about you, Girl on Fire? Do you have any hobbies?”

“Girl on Fire? That’s creative.” Catra scoffed and started to undo her hair.

Adora smiled and turned back to Swift Wind. “And Princess isn’t?” She called over her shoulder.

Catra grumbled something under her breath but moved closer to Adora. They stood in silence for a while, it wasn’t a comfortable silence, but it wasn’t a tense one either. Awkward, was probably a good way to describe it. Adora continued to rub Swift Wind’s muzzle whilst Catra just hung around.

Adora didn’t know how long it had been when Bow came over to them. Adora saw he had a small smile on his face. “Adora, we’re going up now.” He said, pointing over to the elevators at the back of the room.

“Oh, finally.” She said with a laugh. Adora started to walk away but turned around to Catra. “I’ll tell you all about my many hobbies tomorrow.” She said with a wink before turning on her heel and walking to the elevators. Maybe the coming week wouldn’t be as bad as she feared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed this chapter! if you have anything to say, feel free to leave a comment!
> 
> find me on tumblr: @historianadora


	4. the capitol - day two to four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello my lovely readers!!!
> 
> sorry i'm a bit late with this chapter! it didn't really work for a while so it had to go through a lot of editing! anyway, i'm much more excited for the next chapter because it's the last one before the games actually begin!!
> 
> the interactions in this chapter were super fun to write omg, i just loved exploring the trio's relationships and such (we'll get a lot more later though, this was more laying down the foundations). if you follow me on tumblr you'll probably know that i am very excited to get to the games.
> 
> i hope you all enjoy this chapter!

When Bow knocked on her door the next morning, Adora was already up and dressed. If anyone asked, she would use the excuse she told Mara the day she left: “I wake up with the sun.” It wasn’t a total lie, most days she did wake up just as the sun was starting to peek through the forest. But on that particular day, she’d hardly got any sleep. Adora had stayed in her bed for hours after dinner, trying so hard to just drift off. Maybe she did, for an hour or two, but then she had a nightmare and it took her almost an hour to stop shaking. After that she practically gave up, she just sat there, twisting a section of hair around her index finger, thinking about the coming week.

Adora didn’t know why training scared her so much, it was probably going to be exactly the same as lessons in the academy. But somehow it felt different. In the academy, you were surrounded by friends, classmates, but in the Capitol, she was surrounded by twenty-three soon to be dead children. Of course, she shouldn’t let that phase her, Adora had made Glimmer a promise and she never broke a promise.

She tried to think about something else but her mind always switched back to the Games or training. Luckily, training only lasted three days, so she wouldn’t have to be around the other Tributes for very long. Well, except for District Two. She would _have_ to talk to them, after all they were in an alliance. Thinking about it, Adora couldn’t remember the Tributes from Two (although that was probably because she’d only decided to pay attention to Catra). Oh well, she would have all the time in the world to get to know them when the Games started.

It took Adora a few hours before she moved from the bed. She decided not to shower and just got dressed. Pulling on a plain black shirt and tight trousers. Adora sat back down on her bed, hugging a pillow close to her chest, and started to fiddle with her hair again. She wasn’t entirely sure how long she’d sat like that before Bow came in, but she was aware the sun had fully risen.

“Can I come in?” His voice was muffled through the thick door. Adora nodded, but realised he couldn’t see her and hummed in response. Bow pushed the door open and slipped inside. “Oh, you’re up.” He sounded mildly surprised. Adora raised a brow but didn’t say anything. Bow coughed and shuffled around. “Well, training starts in twenty minutes and you haven't come out. We were starting to get worried.”

“Sorry, I lost track of time.” She mumbled, tugging on her hair.

Bow sat at the end of the bed and looked at Adora sadly. “It’s okay if you’re scared. I was too.”

Adora shook her head and sat up straight. “I am _not_ scared.” She was, in fact, terrified.

Bow raised his hands in surrender. “Okay fine, you’re not scared. But, just know that I understand how you’re feeling.” Adora scoffed and looked away, suddenly embarrassed. “Adora, I’m serious. I know it’s going to be a hard few weeks, but just know that, for now at least, I’m here if you ever need to talk about anything.” He smiled warmly at her and stood up.

“Thank you.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“No problem. But you should probably get something to eat before training starts.” He said, holding out a hand. Adora took it and allowed herself to be pulled up.

She hardly spoke to Adam as she ate her breakfast (a plate of toast), she didn’t really think she could. The toast tasted like sawdust but she finished the plate, knowing she would need as much energy as possible for the day.

Bow walked them over to the elevator. He pushed a button to call the elevator and then stepped aside. “Right. I want you both to focus on survival skills.” Adam groaned but Bow continued. “I know you’re both excellent with weapons, you can save that for the private sessions. But in the Games, food and shelter are probably going to be your biggest worry.” Bow glanced between the pair and they both nodded. The elevator arrived with a _ding_ and the doors slid open. “Okay, good luck! And remember to talk to Two!” He reminded them, pushing them into the crystal elevator.

Not even a second later, the doors closed and they were hurtling towards the Training Floor. Adora could feel her hands growing sweaty so she wiped them on her pants, but it didn’t really help. “Adora, you alright? You look really nervous.” Adam sounded worried. Why would he be worried? If she was off her game, it would make it easier for him to win. Then it clicked, she’d agreed to be his friend the night before. Adora internally groaned and cursed her past self.

“Yeah, Adam, I’m fine.” She nodded and tried for a confident smile.

Adam’s brows knit together but he didn’t pry. Instead, he held his hand up, showing Adora something. “Here’s a hair tie by the way, you forgot to do your hair.” He said.

Adora was slightly shocked that he even remembered. She reached behind her and found that she really did forget to tie her hair up. “Huh, thanks Adam.” She took the black elastic and quickly pulled her hair up.

Soon they were standing in a circle with the rest of the Tributes, a woman called Juliet stood in the middle. Well, almost all the Tributes, one look around the circle, Adora noticed the absence of Catra and the boy from her District. “Seven’s late.” She whispered to Adam, as she did another survey, just in case she missed them.

Adam leaned over to her. “No, I think everyone else is just early.” He replied, matching her volume.

Adora nodded and decided to spend her time looking around the room. It was huge and sectioned off. Adora’s eyes immediately found the weapons section, there was a whole range: throwing knives, maces, swords, bows and arrows, spears, and tridents just to name a few. Oh how she was itching to get a hold of a sword, to feel the familiar, cool metal of a hilt in her palms. It seemed that Adam caught her staring because he nudged her. “Hey, we can’t use them, remember?”

Of course she remembered, she was there for the conversation. She was about to voice those thoughts when the doors slid open and in came Catra and the boy. Catra had her arms crossed and looked bored, she had an air of confidence. The boy, however, was shaking head to toe. Adora couldn’t help but feel bad for him, he was obviously young, probably twelve or thirteen and had been thrown into the Games. The pair made their way to the circle. Adora noticed Catra glance at the rest of the Tributes, she also noticed how Catra’s eyes skipped over her and Adam. _Hm, weird._ But it wasn’t actually, they were enemies after all. Why would Catra want to talk to her?

Then Juliet clapped and Adora turned to look at her. “Welcome Tributes! For the next three days, you will train here. Now, I’m sure a lot of you are eyeing up the weapons, but don’t ignore the nature skills. Most of you will die from exposure. Hunger. Infection. Dehydration.” She listed them off on her hands, eyes flicking between Adora, Adam and the pair from Two. _Huh, so she thought we would ignore all that stuff_ , Adora thought whilst ignoring the rest of the speech. “... And remember, it’s forbidden to fight with another tribute, you’ll have plenty of time for that in the arena.” Juliet said with a low chuckle. “If you want to train in combat, there are professionals at each station.” And with that, they were dismissed.

Whilst most of the Tributes broke off to stations, Adam and Adora hung around the center, unsure where to go. “Maybe we should go over to Two.” Adora said, glancing at the pair over by the spears.

Adam sighed. “But they’re by the weapons and you heard what Bow said.”

“Yeah, but Bow isn’t here right now.” She said as she started pulling Adam over to the others.

They were both extremely tall and heavily built. The girl had brown hair in a choppy bob and the boy had his blond hair pulled back in a small bun. When they saw Adam and Adora approach they smiled, although it looked rather threatening. “Hello you two.” The girl sounded rather bored.

“Hey.” Adora stopped a few feet away from them.

The boy waved but didn’t say anything, causing Adora to frown. “That’s Rogelio, he doesn’t talk.” The girl said and stuck out her hand. “I’m Octavia.”

Adora shook her hand. “Adora.” She said stiffly before stepping back.

Octavia turned to Adam, they shook hands and Adam grinned. “I’m Adam, and I look forward to our alliance.” Adora rolled her eyes and turned away to look over the stations.

She saw that one was empty, the one about plants. Adora brightened at that, she could put the information she read on the train to use! Adora nudged Adam and pointed over. “Let’s do the plants.”

Adam looked over and groaned. “But, Adora, that’s so useless. We’ll have all the food we’ll need during the Games.”

“It’s not set in stone that we’ll get the Cornucopia. We should at least try and learn a bit.” She said. “Besides, it’s what Bow wanted us to do.”

“ _But Bow isn’t here right now._ " He said in an awful imitation of her voice. Adora gasped and crossed her arms, her voice was _not_ that high.

“Fine, I’ll go by myself. You can stay here with the idiots.” She spat and turned on her heel. Adora could hear Adam apologise but she wasn’t interested in him or his fake apology. In fact, she wanted to turn around and tell him just where he could shove that apology. But she didn’t because she wasn’t an asshole.

So she stomped over to the plants station and stared at a small bush with black berries. Adora went to pluck a berry off but a quick look at the sign stopped her. _Nightlock_ , it read, _a poisonous berry that kills almost instantly. Can easily be mistaken for a blueberry, however Nightlock has black juice unlike blueberries._ Adora examined it for a solid minute, trying to remember it so she wouldn’t pick it accidentally.

She spent the rest of the morning at that station, learning all she could about different plants and their uses. It was actually quite informative, even if Adam thought it was boring. At least she was sticking to Bow’s instructions. Adora looked up to find Adam standing around the archery station, laughing at something Octavia had said. She narrowed her eyes and focused back on the leaf in front of her. It was from an Oak tree, but it wasn’t green. It was brown, telling her it had been away from its tree for a while. If she held it in her hand and squeezed, she was sure it would fall apart.

When the bell for lunch went, Adora finally went back to Adam and the others. Not because she really wanted to, but because she needed them to like her for her plan to work. “Adora!” Adam grinned as she walked up.

“Hi, Adam.” She waved, almost forgetting that she was mad at him.

Apparently, Adam had forgotten too because he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. Adora went to push away but decided against it at the last second, _we’re friends now_ , she reminded herself. “What have you been up to this morning?” He asked as they made their way over to the line.

Adora shrugged. “Looking at plants and stuff.” She replied vaguely, they may be friends but she wasn’t about to go and give away all her useful information to him. “What about you three?” She asked, trying to keep her tone even. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the Tributes from District Two, it was just that… okay she didn’t like them. She didn’t even have a reason, they just made her feel weird, with their toothy grins and beady eyes.

“Well, I did a lot of target practice, with a bow and arrow.” He shrugged. “It’s not my go-to but if they don’t have knives then I’m guessing they’ll have a bow.”

Adora rolled her eyes and picked up a tray of food. “They always have knives, Adam.” She said, eyes scanning the canteen for any sign of Octavia and Rogelio. She didn’t find them, instead her eyes landed on Catra.

The girl in question was already staring at her. Adora raised a brow, a small smile on her face. Catra scowled and turned away, starting to talk to the boy from her District. So they were definitely ignoring each other. Adora ignored the feeling of hurt growing in her stomach and followed Adam over to Octavia and Rogelio.

She slid down on the bench, sitting opposite Rogelio. He smiled at her but she ignored it, Adora wasn’t trying to be rude she just didn’t care about making any more friends. If her plan succeeded, she wouldn’t even be with the others for longer than the first few days. Besides, it would only hurt more if she did become friends with the others, she was already worried about Adam, she didn’t need to care about anyone else. _But you care about Catra…_ No, no she didn’t. In fact, Adora didn’t care about anyone but herself, not Adam and certainly not Catra.

Adora ate quickly, ignoring the conversation around her, keeping her eyes on her plate at all times. She was just about to get up to put her tray away when Adam grabbed her hand. Adora glared at him, pulling her hand away. “What do you want?” She asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

Adam looked at her sadly, dropping his hand onto the bench. “I want to know what you’re going to do next. So I can join you.”

Adora sighed and sat back down, “Fires.” She whispered, staring down at her empty tray.

She felt Adam slide closer to her. “Do you wanna talk about it?” He asked quietly. Adora shook her head but smiled at him.

“No thanks, I’ll be fine.” She grabbed his hand under the table and squeezed. Adora then turned to Octavia. “So, what’s your favourite weapon?” She asked. Adora really didn’t want to talk to them, but seeing as Adam was being nice to her, she should probably do something for him and (for some reason) he seemed to like Octavia and Rogelio.

Octavia grinned, her eyes filling with something Adora didn’t quite understand but it sent a shiver down her spine. “Anything with a blade.” She picked up the knife from her tray and ran a finger along the blade. Adora gulped and nodded. “What about you two?” Octavia asked, glancing between the two.

“Oh, I don’t think we’re supposed to tell you yet.” Adora forced a laugh.

Octavia pouted. “What’s the fun in that?”

Adam laughed and shrugged. “We would love to tell you, but Bow’s prohibited us from the weapons.”

“But you already broke that rule.” Octavia reasoned, pointing the butter knife at Adam.

“I suppose I did.” Adam nodded and pulled his hand out of Adora’s hold so he could rest his elbows on the table. “But what about your friend, Rogelio? What’s his weapon of choice?”

Octavia hummed, twirling the knife around. “Guess.” She grinned.

Adora looked over at Rogelio. He was watching the exchange with a small smile on his face. Through the morning, some of his hair had escaped the tie and fell around his face, some strands stuck to his sweaty neck. Looking over him, Adora couldn’t quite place what his weapon was. He didn’t have many scars on his arms (most kids who wielded the blades did), nor did he seem like the type to use a bow. Adora also hadn’t seen him actually pick up a weapon yet (well, he hadn’t been holding anything each time she looked over at them). “Hand-to-hand combat.” It seemed both her and Adam had come to the same conclusion at the same time.

Rogelio nodded and Octavia clapped. “So you _are_ smarter than you look!” She laughed. Adora scowled and had to stop herself from saying something rude. Luckily, the bell rang before she could think of a good insult. Huffing, she stood up and walked back into the main training room.

Thankfully, there was no speech when they entered so they could get straight to it. Adora pulled Adam over to the station about fires. But to her dismay, there was already someone there. Adora didn’t let Catra’s presence stop her. Not even casting her a single glance, Adora sat down on a log and grabbed a bunch of sticks. Adam sat down opposite her and stared. “Do you even know what you’re doing?” He asked, watching Adora pile the sticks.

No, she didn’t know what she was doing, but Adam didn’t need to know that. “Yes.” She replied, sitting back to admire her stick pile. The pair looked at it for a few minutes, neither moving to light it. “Well, light it then.” Adora huffed, gesturing to the pile.

“Me? You wanted to do this!” Adam cried.

Adora picked up a twig and threw it at him, hardly containing her laughter. “Do you even know how to start a fire?”

“Do you?” Adam asked, he threw the twig back and hit Adora’s forehead.

“Of course I do.” She said, picking up two thin sticks. Adora tried to remember anything from survival classes, but drew a blank.

Adora could feel a presence next to her but didn’t look up. “You rub the sticks together.” Adora could hear the smile in Catra’s voice. She looked over at Adam, he was looking at Catra, his brows furrowed.

“And you are?” He asked.

“Catra, District Seven.” She said, sitting down next to Adora. Adora ignored Catra’s knee on top of hers as she rubbed the sticks together.

“Well, Catra, District Seven, what are you doing?” Adora didn’t need to look up to know that he was proud of himself for the nickname.

“I got bored of watching you sit around.” She shrugged and turned to Adora. “You’re doing it wrong.” Adora ignored her and started rubbing the sticks together more violently. Nothing happened. Catra was shaking next to her, probably trying to hold in a laugh. “God, what do they teach you in those academies?” She laughed. If Adora wasn’t so angry, she would’ve found the sound nice.

Adam replied. “Well, we do have survival classes, but I think most people zone out. I personally use it as nap time.” He laughed. 

Catra scoffed. “Of fucking course you do.” She mumbled under her breath. Adora stopped and glared at her. Catra just looked at her innocently. “What?” She asked as if she hadn’t just said that.

“Nothing.” Adora mumbled, turning back to the sticks. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Catra raise a brow and smile at Adam. No, no they would not become friends. They shouldn’t even be talking to each other. It was only the first day and already everything was going wrong. Someone from Seven should not be that comfortable around Tributes from One.

Catra watched Adora for another few minutes before getting impatient. She practically ripped the sticks out of Adora’s hands. “I’ll just teach you myself.” She grumbled and shuffled closer to the pile. Adora rolled her eyes at Adam, smiling. He smiled back and moved closer to Catra. Adora kneeled next to her, peering over her shoulder to see what she was doing.

She started to move the sticks away, muttering something about ‘these idiots’ and how they ‘have no fucking clue what they’re doing’. Adora pretended she didn’t hear it and focused on the log Catra had pulled from behind Adora. Catra pulled out a small knife and started to make a hole in the log.

As Catra worked away at the wood, Adora started to lose focus. She found herself overwhelmed by the scent of lavender. It didn’t take her long to realise who smelled like her favourite plant. She glanced over at Catra, a half-smile on her face. “You smell good.” She whispered, the words slipping out before she could really think about it. Catra turned to her, looking extremely confused.

“Thank you?” Catra replied, matching Adora’s volume. They looked at each other for a few seconds and Adora felt the rest of the world fade away. _Wow, she looks beautiful_. In the morning, Catra’s hair had been in a loose ponytail, but at that point in the day she’d lost the hair tie and her brown hair was hanging around her face. Adora scanned Catra’s face and started to notice the freckles dotting her cheeks and nose. Adora could hardly see the stars from her room in One (the pollution from all the factories blocking them out) but the longer she looked, the more she was reminded of the twinkling lights.

“No problem.” She said breathlessly. Then Adam coughed and the trance was broken. The two girls turned away from each other, blushing furiously. Adora, avoiding the look she knew Adam was giving her, stared at the log. Catra pulled out her knife and picked up a stick.

Adora heard Catra shuffle and felt the heat leave her side. “Since Adora seems… preoccupied.” Catra said, Adora started to pray the ground would swallow her there and then. “I’ll show you.” So she was by Adam. Adora watched as Catra put the stick in the hole and started to move the stick quickly. “You have to move your hands really fast and down.” Catra said as she moved her hands down the stick, still twisting it quickly.

“Can I try?” Adam sounded excited, Adora didn’t understand that, it was fire. But she still kept her eyes on the stick, too embarrassed to look at the others.

“Yeah, sure!” Catra moved away and Adam took over. He wasn’t twisting the stick as fast but Catra didn’t speak up to correct him so he couldn’t be doing that bad.

The rest of the day went pretty quickly. They stayed at the fire station for the rest of the afternoon, Adam seemed to really enjoy setting things on fire. Adora did eventually start a fire, but went back to sitting awkwardly afterwards. From what she gathered at dinner that night, Bow wasn’t exactly proud of how she acted. She pretended she didn’t care, but deep down she knew she did. Bow was really the only other person, besides Adam, who had shown her kindness and all she could do was sit silently at dinner and not try to make allies. 

She wasn’t entirely sure why she was acting out like that, she’d never done it before. It was probably because she’d never experienced this level of fear and anger all at once. It was a constant feeling in her stomach, growing bigger every single time she thought about the Games. It made her feel sick, she almost didn’t finish her meal. But she did because Casta and Bow were casting worried looks to her. Adora went to bed early again that night, she couldn’t sit around making everyone worry for much longer.

She didn’t even bother changing, she just slipped her shoes off and got into the bed. Pulling the sheets up to her neck, she curled up in a tight ball and tried to get to sleep.

* * *

The next two days went something like that. She woke up, ate silently, went to training and came back. The weird thing was, Catra had started tagging along with Adam and her. Sure, Adora liked being able to talk to Catra, but it felt wrong. She knew the other Tributes and probably even the Gamemakers were picking up on it, giving them weird looks as they walked around.

By the third day, they’d gone through every single nature station twice, and with nothing else to do, Adora suggested they go over to the weapons. Catra’s eyes lit up at the very mention and she practically skipped to the wall with the axes. “You sure you can use that, Girl on Fire?” Adora asked as Catra picked an axe off the wall.

“Can you, Princess?” She replied with a grin.

Adora scoffed and picked up an axe and three throwing knives and walked over to a dummy. She held the axe in her hand, it was small and light, not a throwing knife but close enough. Taking a deep breath, she aimed at the dummy’s head and threw it. It hit its mark and Adora smiled at Catra. “I don’t know, can I?”

Catra’s eyes narrowed and she held up her own axe. Adora didn’t really catch it. But one second the axe was in her hand and the next thing she knew it was in the dummy’s heart. “Can you?” She asked smugly.

Adora rolled her eyes and turned back to the dummy. She threw her knives, one to the dummy’s arm, one to a leg and the other hit where an eye would’ve been on a real person. Adora turned back to Catra, not stopping the smirk growing on her face. Catra stepped closer, not looking away. “You know, Kitty, if you’re trying to scare me, it won’t work.” She whispered once they were face to face. Well, Catra was looking up at her and Adora was looking down at Catra.

“Hmm, do I smell nice, Princess?” She asked, her voice low.

Adora didn’t even twitch. “Like sweat.” She replied.

Catra pouted. “Not as good as the other day?”

The scent of lavender wasn't as noticeable that time, but it was certainly there. “You smell like shit, Girl on Fire.” Catra just laughed and stepped away.

“Alright, you keep lying to yourself.” She said and turned back to the wall with the axes.

Adora turned away and saw Adam, Octavia and Rogelio looking at her with matching grins. Adora scowled and pushed past them to the spears. “So, you got a thing for Seven?” She heard Octavia call.

“Fuck off.” Was all she replied. The trio behind her started to laugh but she didn’t pay any attention. Luckily there was only an hour left in the day so she just threw spears for the rest of the time. Oh, how she wanted to get her hands on a sword but that would have to wait for the private session the next day. Adora felt slightly guilty for straying from Bow’s advice on the last day, but she hadn’t completely ignored it so it could be worse.

Adam annoyed her all the way back to their floor. He kept poking her and asking her questions. Like it was any of his business if Adora had feelings for another Tribute (she didn't), she couldn’t act on them anyway, so what was the big issue. “Adora, stop ignoring me.” He whined as she fell onto the couch.

“Adam, I’m not going to talk to you about my feelings.” Adora said, closing her eyes in hopes that he would think she was tired and leave her alone. Apparently, he didn’t get the hint.

He sat down by her head and poked her cheek. “Why not?”

“Because, it’s none of your business. Plus, we have more important issues to focus on.” She mumbled, pushing his hand away.

“Such as?”

“ _Such as_ , the private sessions tomorrow, the interviews and the Games starting in two days.” Adora felt the awful sick feeling rising up in her stomach.

She didn’t have to look to know Adam had rolled his eyes. “If Casta finds out you’re stressing so much she’ll start freaking out. Remember we’re supposed to enjoy our time here.”

Adora let out a breath and sat up. “Adam, I’m serious. Only one person is leaving that arena, I think I’m allowed to stress.”

Adam shuffled closer and pulled her into a hug. Adora didn’t even fight it, she just leaned into his warm arms. She knew she would regret it, but at that moment in time, she didn’t care. “It’s going to be okay, Adora. I know you’ll rock the session _and_ the interview.” Adora nodded and started to fiddle with some hair that had fallen out of her tie. “I’m serious. They’ll love you.”

“They’ll love you too.” She felt Adam chuckle. “I’m not kidding! You’re great at making friends, by the time your two minutes are up you’ll have the whole country in love with you.” Adora said, realising she meant it. She hadn’t been the nicest to Adam over the previous three days, but he’d always stuck by her.

“Wow, thanks Adora! I didn't know you could be nice.” He laughed, rubbing his knuckles on her head.

She laughed and hit him gently. “Just for that, I won’t be nice anymore. You know what? I hope you get the lowest score.” She giggled.

They sat in silence after that. Adora was thinking about Catra because thinking about home hurt too much. She was thinking about how Catra always smelled like lavender, even though they’d been running and throwing things around. She was thinking about how beautiful she looked at the Reaping. She was thinking about how even though they were going to fight each other, they were still friends.

Adora was so caught up in her thoughts she completely missed Bow coming in. She only noticed when she felt Adam move from under her. “I need to speak to you both about tomorrow.” He said seriously, sinking into the seat opposite them. Adora pushed herself up and nodded for him to continue. “You both know that the private sessions are tomorrow. But they’re only in the afternoon, after lunch. So you have time to train in the morning. I want you to stick close to Two.” Adora opened her mouth to object but one glare from Bow and she closed it again. “I know you don’t like them, Adora. But you should think about an alliance.” He reasoned.

“But _you_ ran off from them!” Adora said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I did, yes.” He nodded, “But unless you have other allies, you won’t make it very far. Trust me.”

In a split second, Adora made probably the worst decision ever. “I have another ally.” Her eyes went wide and she slapped her hand over her mouth. Technically she did, Catra had been hanging around them for the whole week. But they’d never talked about it before.

Bow raised a brow. “You do?” He asked, sounding surprised.

Adora nodded, hand still over her mouth. Adam was glancing between the two. It took him a few seconds before he realised who she was talking about. He let out a small ‘oh’ and turned to Bow. “Yeah, we do.”

“We?” Adora and Bow asked at the same time.

Adam nodded, determination in his eyes. “Yes, we. Adora told me her plan this morning.” She certainly had not, hell she hardly had the whole thing figured out yet! 

“Your plan?” Bow shifted so he was looking at Adora.

She nodded and started to fiddle with her hair again. “Yeah, I was gonna do what you did. Wait it out until everyone was asleep and I had everything I would need. Then I would take off and get away.” Then through gritted teeth she added: “By myself.” She glared at Adam.

“Well, I have to admit it’s a good idea. It saves you having to hang around and wait out on killing them.” Bow nodded. “But, what were you going to once you ran out of supplies?”

Adora shrugged. “I didn’t plan that far. I just wanted to get rid of as many tributes as possible.” Well, at least she was honest.

Bow sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Right, well. It’s a start. I just have a few questions.”

Adora sat back, resting her head on the back of the couch so she was looking up at the ceiling. “Go ahead.” She muttered, knowing there was no way out of the conversation.

“Were you planning on taking Adam?”

“No. I wasn’t even planning to go with…” She trailed off, not wanting to say Catra’s name in case Bow thought it was a bad idea. “... my ally. I didn’t even know Adam knew about my plan.” She grumbled.

“Well, you _should_ take him. It would be better if you stuck together and now with your ally, you’ll be seen as a more scary group and less Tributes would try and attack you.” Bow reasoned. “I think it’s a good idea!” He said after a while.

“You just like that I’m using your idea.” Adora let out a weak chuckle.

She heard Bow laugh. “It has done wonders for my ego.” He said, but he didn’t sound very happy. Adora ignored it, instead she stood up and decided to shower.

“I’ll see you both at dinner.” She said and left the room.

Dinner that night was spent mainly in silence. Perfuma and Adam’s stylist were there too, probably already thinking about the interview outfits, they were the nly two talking in hushed whispers. Bow was staring down at his plate, obviously thinking about the information he’d been told earlier. Casta was (surprisingly) able to read the room and stopped talking, opting to read instead. Adam and Adora sat stiffly, eating as fast as they could. As soon as she was done, she excused herself and went to bed.

Getting sleep that night was a feat, she was too focused on the private training session. It wasn’t helping that they hadn’t spoken about it with Bow. She had no idea what she was going to do to make herself stick out. She was from One so she would be the first person to go. That could mean two things:

1) She sets the bar extremely high and no one else compares

Or

2) She freezes, forgets what she’s doing and makes a fool of herself.

Adora couldn’t get to sleep, no matter how hard she tried. In the end, she decided she had to move around. Quietly, she crawled out of the bed, pulled a thin white robe over her nightgown and slipped out of the room. She slowly made her way to the main door of their floor. Adora knew she couldn’t take the elevator so she would just have to wonder around the corridors on their floor for a while.

She pushed down the door handle and squeezed her eyes shut, expecting an alarm. Surprisingly no alarm went off, the door just swung open to reveal dimly lit white walls. She stepped out and shut the door, making sure to leave it ajar so she could get back in.

Adora had been walking around for about five minutes when she heard a second pair of footsteps. She stopped, going completely still. The footsteps didn’t slow down or go away, in fact it seemed like they were getting louder. She looked around frantically, but couldn’t find a hiding spot. As the person rounded the corner, Adora didn’t dare breathe. The other person stopped, Adora didn’t want to turn around and see who it was. Not like she had to wait long. Whoever it was would grab her and force her back to her room and make her stay there and- “Princess?”

Adora spun around. “Catra? What are you doing down here?” She let out a relieved sigh. Adora wouldn’t have recognised her if she hadn't spoken. Her hair was up and her face was covered in shadows.

“I could ask you the same question.” She said, quickly coming over to Adora. Adora sat down against the wall, patting the spot next to her. Catra slid down, pulling her knees into her chest. “Couldn’t sleep?” She asked once the silence became unbearable. To Adora’s surprise, there was no mocking or malice in her tone.

“I’ve barely slept this week.” She replied, pulling her hands into the sleeves of her robe, trying to keep herself warm in the cold hallway.

Catra hummed. “Me either.” Adora started to fidget, she knew she should probably ask Catra to be her ally. But what if she said no? What if it ruined their friendship? What if she left? Catra noticed and turned to her, pulling Adora’s hand away from her hair. “Your hair is curly already, Princess.” Her voice was soft, so unlike every other time they’d spoken.

Adora smiled weakly and looked into Catra’s eyes. She took a deep breath and decided there was no time like the presence. “Do you want to be allies, Girl on Fire?” She asked quietly.

Catra looked slightly startled, it would’ve been cute if they weren’t in a serious conversation. But the look was gone as quickly as it came and then she frowned. “What, with you and Two?”

Adora shook her head. “Me and Adam aren’t staying with them past the first night.” Maybe it was a bad idea to tell her, but Adora didn’t really mind.

Catra looked away and bit her lip. “You’ll meet me the first night?” Her voice was so quiet, Adora almost didn’t hear her.

“Yeah, of course. Just stick close to the Cornucopia, but not so we can see you.” Adora whispered back, shuffling closer so that their knees touched.

“Promise?” Catra asked.

Adora nodded, smiling. “I promise.” Then Catra did something Adora would never have expected from her. She hesitantly lay her head on Adora’s shoulder. Adora tensed, her mind screaming at her. _What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?_

She felt Catra nod. “Okay, yeah, I’ll be your ally.” Adora grinned and started to relax. It was useless trying to pretend that she didn’t care about Catra. She knew she did, and nothing would stop that, no matter how much she tried to push it away.

Her smile slipped off her face as her thoughts went to the Games. “Catra, I don’t want to have to kill you.” She whispered.

For a while, Catra didn’t respond and Adora started to think she had fallen asleep. It took her a few minutes to form a reply. “Then don’t. I don’t want to kill you either, so how about we split off when it gets down to the last five?” _If we make it that far_ , it was left unsaid, but Adora knew she was thinking it.

Adora chewed the inside of her lip. “What about Adam?” She asked. Adora knew it was stupid, refusing to kill them, but they were her friends and she wasn’t going to be responsible for their deaths.

Catra shrugged. “I don’t know.” Of course she didn’t, Adora didn’t know either. There was no way to know if they would even survive the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. Sure, it was likely her and Adam would, but what about Catra? Adora knew she was fast and agile, she’d seen her on the climbing wall, but what good was that when there were kids twice her height and size that could throw a knife with deadly precision? Adora shook her head, getting rid of those thoughts. She refused to even think about Catra dying, it wouldn’t happen. It _couldn’t_ happen.

They sat in silence for the rest of the night, enjoying being in each other’s company. Adora didn’t manage to doze off, she suspected Catra didn’t either. She was stiff when she first heard a muffled voice in (what she assumed was) the early hours of the morning. Adora gently moved her shoulder, nudging Catra’s head. “I think we should be getting back now.” She whispered. Catra yawned and nodded. Adora pushed herself up, then helped pull Catra up too. “I’ll see you in a few hours, Girl on Fire.” Adora started to walk down the corridor, a tired Catra trailing behind her.

“That’s a stupid nickname.” Was her reply. Adora chuckled and turned so she was walking backwards. Catra looked up at her, scowling. “Why am I not surprised you’re a morning person?” She asked through a yawn.

“You’re just jealous.”

Catra scoffed. “Oh yeah? Of what?”

“How lively I am even though I didn’t sleep last night.” She grinned as Catra rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, Adora, I’m _so_ jealous.” Catra caught up to Adora and spun her around so they were both walking forwards.

The walk back to the door was fast, neither wanting to get caught together. When they reached the door, Adora pushed it open and peered inside, no lights were on. She breathed a sigh of relief and stepped inside. “Is this our thing now?” Adora asked, leaning against the door frame.

Catra raised a brow. “What?”

“You walking me to my door.” Adora leaned forward so she was face to face with Catra.

“No, absolutely not. We don’t have a thing! We’re not even supposed to be near each other.” Catra stepped back, blushing.

Adora hummed and stood up. “Whatever you say, Kitty. But I better go and get ready, can’t look bad for the Gamemakers.”

“You don’t look bad.” Catra mumbled, staring down the corridor.

Adora felt her heart skip a beat. “Was that a complement, Girl on Fire?”

“Shut the fuck up, Princess.” Catra scowled, but her blush just got darker.

“It was! Awe, Kitty!” Adora laughed, trying to stay quiet so she didn’t wake anyone else up.

“Right, well, I’ll see you in a few hours!” Catra called as she sped down the corridor, leaving Adora doubled over in laughter, holding the handle to keep herself standing. She knew it wasn’t polite to laugh, but Adora had never seen Catra so flustered. Once she gained control of her laughter, she closed the door and tip-toed back to her room, not wanting anyone to wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed, feel free tell me all your thoughts and feelings in the comments!
> 
> talk to me on tumblr: historianadora


	5. the capitol - day six and seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO MY LOVES!! sorry for the late chapter, tried to make it up by making it extra long!! I hope you all enjoy!! this chapter is a bit of a roller coaster and does contain a panic attack near the end so please just watch out for that!!
> 
> As usual, please tell me all your thoughts and opinions in the comments!! enjoy the chapter!!

The training room was quiet when Adam and Adora entered. Most Tributes were just sitting around, too anxious to do anything. It didn’t surprise Adora that the only two that were doing anything were Octavia and Rogelio. They stood over by the spears, launching them across the room to where the dummies stood. Adora grabbed Adam’s hand and moved away from them, praying they wouldn’t come over and talk.

Adora scanned the large room for Catra and found her over by the fire station. She wasn’t doing anything though, just sitting on a log and staring into space. Adora quickly made her way over and sat down next to her, Adam sitting on her other side so Catra was in the middle. “You doing okay, Girl on Fire?” Adora asked, bumping their knees together.

Catra startled, sitting up with a gasp. When she noticed who had spoken she nodded. “Yeah, yeah I’m good!” She said with forced enthusiasm. “Just thinking, that’s all.” She added when she saw the worried looks from Adam and Adora.

“About training?” Adam asked. Adora noticed his leg had started to bounce.

Catra nodded and dropped her head into her hands. “I don’t think I’m going to do well.” She mumbled.

Adora rubbed her back comfortingly. “I’m sure you’ll be fine!” She knew Catra was going to do well, she’d only seen her wield a weapon once, but she was certainly almost as good as Adam and herself. Adora wondered if Catra had practiced in private back in Seven.

Catra shook her head and stood up. Adora’s hand fell against the rough log. “We should do something.” She said, turning back to the pair with a smile. Adam and Adora looked to each other, raised a brow and turned back to Catra. Her smile drooped. “Don’t look at me like that!”

Adam sighed. “What do you want to do then?” He asked. Catra just shrugged in response. He looked around, searching for something. He didn’t really have to, they practically had full reign of the place, what with the others just sitting around. After a few seconds he pointed over to a station on the other side of the room. “How about knots?”

Adora shook her head. “I’m not sitting around tying knots.” She mumbled, resting her chin on her hand. She really only wanted to do one thing, but she knew she should wait. After all, it was only a few hours until her name would be called and she could _finally_ get her hands on a sword.

“What about climbing?” Adam asked, peering up at the nets above them.

Adora hummed and stood up. She didn’t particularly want to do climbing, but she had started to lose feeling in her leg so she knew she should move around. “Okay fine, but I’m not going to go all in.” She sighed, beginning to make her way over to the station.

She weaved her way through other Tributes and stations, finding it rather inconvenient that some girl had decided to just sit in the middle of the floor. Adora was hoping to just speed past Octavia and Rogelio, but they managed to catch her at the last second. “Hey, Adora!” Octavia called.

Adora sighed but looked her way with a smile. “What’s up?” She asked, not moving towards them

“Wanna come train with us?” She asked, leaning on a spear. Adora turned back to Adam and Catra with wide eyes. They both looked as surprised as she was, but Adam nodded and pushed her forward.

Adora gulped. “Yeah, sure, why not?” She laughed weakly and went over to the pair. They both grinned widely sending a shiver down Adora’s spine. She wasn’t intimidated by them, she’d known people like this back in One. They were strong, mean and had deadly aim. They were, usually, always top of their class and they _always_ volunteered.

When she got to them, Rogelio handed her a spear. As soon as the cool metal touched her hands, she clutched it tightly. Spears had never been her favourite weapon (usually going for the blades), but she knew how to throw one. “Let’s see if you can nail your first shot, Princess.” Octavia said, crossing her arms.

Adora scowled and glared at her. “Don’t call me that.” She snapped.

Octavia’s grin grew. “What, is that nickname saved for your girlfriend or something? Oh, Adora, you should know better than to get attached to another Tribute. After all, only one person is leaving that Arena.” Adora flinched and turned to face the wooden target.

“I’m not getting attached to anyone.” That’s what she kept trying to tell herself, but it wasn’t working. She knew she was getting attached to Catra and there wasn’t anything she could do to stop it. Deep down she knew she didn’t want to stop it.

“Prove it.” Octavia stepped forward, leaning against the spear Adora was holding. “Kill her first.” Adora’s legs wobbled and she held the spear tightly to keep herself standing. Adora had known since the moment she volunteered that her promise to never kill anyone wasn’t going to last much longer, she would _have_ to kill people if she wanted to win. But now she was friends with two Tributes, she didn’t know what she was supposed to do. Of course, her and Catra had a plan, but what if it fell through? What if something happened and they were forced to kill each other? No, she couldn’t think about that just yet. Not when she was in front of Octavia, she couldn't be vulnerable in front of her.

Adora blinked, trying to keep the fear out of her voice as she spoke. “And if I don’t?” She asked, hoping Octavia didn’t hear how her voice shook.

Octavia shrugged. “Then I’ll do it.” Then she bent down to whisper in Adora’s ear. “I’ll drag it out for as long as I can, and I’ll force you to watch.” She sounded so _excited_. Adora had to swallow back the bile rising in her throat.

Adora shook her head. “Don’t touch her.” She hissed, anger bubbling in her stomach.

“Ooh, touchy.” Octavia stepped away, holding her hands up in mock surrender. “But I’m not kidding, Princess, if you don’t kill her, I will.” She said lowly. But then she turned away from Adora back to the weapons, and it was as if their conversation hadn’t just happened.

She tried to lift up the spear but found her hands were slick with sweat. Dropping the spear on the floor with a loud _CLANG_ , she rubbed her hands on her trousers. Adora took those few seconds to try and calm herself down, there was no point in getting worked up about it. Especially there, in front of 23 Tributes and the Gamemakers. She would just have to wait a few hours, then she could panic. “Well, throw it then.” A voice called. Adora jumped and spun around, expecting to find Octavia peering over her shoulder. But she didn’t, instead Catra stood there, arms crossed and looking incredibly bored. Adora smiled slightly and picked up the spear.

“Come to watch me fail?” Adora asked, looking back at her.

“Maybe.” Catra said, sitting down on the floor.

Adora glared at her before focusing back on the target. She took a deep breath and held the spear up, moving her hands around slightly so that she was holding it comfortably. Once she was holding it comfortable, she drew her arm back, took aim and threw the spear as hard as she could. It flew through the air with a small whistle before landing on the centre of the target with a dull _THUD_. Adora turned to Catra, grinning proudly. “First try.” She said triumphantly.

Catra clapped and stood up. “Not too bad, Princess.”

Adora’s grin faltered at the nickname, but it was back before anyone could notice. “I’d like to see you try and do that with no training.” Adora whispered back. Sure, almost everyone knew about the academies, but it was still technically illegal to train for the Games.

“I would but, unfortunately, my stylist said I can’t ruin my nails for the interviews tomorrow.” Catra pouted, but Adora could tell she wasn’t really upset. Catra’s stylist probably hadn’t even said anything like that.

“You could just admit you can’t do it.” Adora said, turning to scan the gym.

“Never.” Catra stood next to her, fiddling with the end of her braid.

Adora glanced at the big clock on the wall and saw that it was only an hour until lunch. That meant that she had an hour and a half to come up with a plan to impress the Gamemakers. “You nervous?” Adora asked, glancing down at Catra.

She shook her head and looked up, smiling slightly. “Of course not. Why? Are you?”

“I’m from One, we don’t get nervous.” She said whilst nervously fiddling with her hair.

Catra nudged her gently. “Sure you don’t, Blondie.”

Adora ignored the way her heart skipped a beat at the nickname. “That’s a new one.” She said, finally locating Adam. He was sprawled out on one of the mats they used for hand-to-hand practice.

“What, you don’t like it? I could always go with Curly Locks.” Catra mused, following Adora over to Adam.

Adora frowned, “I do have a name, you know.” She responded, sitting down by Adam’s head. Catra just hummed and flopped down on the mat, her head by Adam’s feet. Adam’s eyes were closed and he looked relaxed, Adora grinned and poked his cheek. Adam grunted and flicked her hand away. She poked him again. Adam’s eyes snapped open and he glared at Adora. “Yeah, isn’t nice is it?” She asked, moving out of his face so he could sit up.

“You’re so annoying.” He grumbled, rubbing his eyes.

Adora gasped and pushed him slightly. “Me? I’m the annoying one?”

“Yes, I was trying to sleep.” Adam lay back down, his hands over his eyes.

Adora rolled her eyes and sat cross-legged. “So,” She sighed, glancing between the two on the mat, “It’s a nice day today!” She said cheerfully, trying to steer their minds away from the private sessions.

Catra laughed and looked over. “Adora, we’re in an underground room, what do you mean it’s a nice day out?”

Adora shrugged. “From my window this morning. The sun was just above the mountains and it looked as though someone had painted the sky.” Adora could still see it. She’d just closed the door to her room, only to find it was bathed in pinks and golds. It was the most beautiful thing Adora had ever seen.

“Why were you up that early?” Adam’s voice shook Adora out of her head.

“Huh?” She asked quietly, not really registering what he’d said.

Adam rolled his eyes. “Why were you up that early?”

“Uh…” Adora looked over at Catra, but she just shrugged. She could still feel Adam’s eyes on her so she quickly searched her mind for an excuse. “Nightmare?” Her voice was a mere squeak, an obvious lie. _Good God you’re going to have to get better at that if you want to win,_ the voice in her head told her. Adora wasn’t sure why she’d lied, Adam would probably find out eventually, but she found herself not wanting to talk about their meeting in the corridor. Adora had never really had secrets before, Mara knew her too well and Glimmer seemed to know everything so there was never any point in keeping them. But Adora wanted to keep that night to herself, because it was special and she didn’t want to share that with anyone else. 

“Right.” Adam mumbled, but left it at that. They didn’t really talk after that. Adora was pretty sure Catra had fallen asleep at one point, probably trying to catch up on what she'd missed the night before. Adam was just staring up at the ceiling and the climbing course. His leg was bouncing which meant he was thinking about something stressful. Adora wanted to comfort him, but couldn’t find the right words.

There wasn’t much she could say, _Hey! Sorry you’ve got to kill us all soon, it’ll be fine!_ She knew her words would be empty, there was no comfort when it came to the Games. No matter how much Adora pretended to be comforted by the others’ presence, deep down, she knew that she wasn’t. Or wouldn’t be for much longer. How could she when they were going into that arena, where they would have to fight for their lives? After all, only one person was coming out, and it _was_ going to be her. She’d promised Glimmer. She’d get out, even if it meant having to go back on her promise to herself.

Lunch was tense. Adora ate quickly, spending the rest of the thirty minutes trying to keep her meal down. As she looked around, she saw that no one was eating. Most Tributes were sitting by themselves, moving food around their plate. A young boy sat in the corner, hugging his knees to his chest. Adora felt sympathy rise in her chest. Even though she’d been trained for the Games, twenty of those kids hadn’t been. They were being thrown into this blind, with little help from their Mentors. At least some of the kids from higher Districts had recent mentors, but the kids from Twelve had no chance. Their last Victor had been almost twenty years ago, it was common knowledge he wasn’t a very good Mentor. The Games had taken their toll on him and now he only came out of his house for the Games. They also had an old female Victor, Adora couldn’t remember her name but she knew she’d taken part in one of the first ten Games.

Something landed on her forehead, snapping her out of her thoughts. Adora blinked down at her previously empty plate and saw a single grape lying there. “You were staring, Princess.” Catra smiled, leaning forward to pick her grape up.

Adora frowned. “I wasn’t.” She mumbled. Well, she had been before she’d zoned out but Catra didn’t need to know that. Catra raised a brow and popped the grape into her mouth. Adora stuck her tongue out and looked down at her plate. Next to her, Adam stifled a laugh. "Fuck off." She mumbled, dropping her head onto the table.

The next twenty minutes were full of small conversations here and there, sometimes Adora got involved, but she mainly tuned it out too busy trying to come up with a tactic. Internally, she cursed herself for not going to Bow for advice. That's what he was there for after all, he'd also offered to help her at the start of the week, but of course Adora had to be stubborn and not take him up on it. So there she was, panicking over something that she could've been solved a week before.

She knew she would have to go with a sword, that was her best weapon, but it's what she would _do_ with it that had her stumped. If she wanted to make an impression, she couldn't just swing her sword around.

Adora was just about to join in on a conversation about bread when static started to play over the speaker. It didn't take long for the static to turn into actual words. "Adora Grayskull, please report to your private session.”

She sat up straight as every pair of eyes snapped to her. Plastering a proud grin on her face, she slid off the bench, trying to stop her hands from shaking. On one end of the canteen, the door to the Training Room slid open. Adora made her way across the room as quickly as she could without breaking out into a run. _It’s just like the Academy, just ignore the Gamemakers. It’s just like the Academy, you’ll be fine._ Adora didn’t feel fine, but she took a deep breath and stepped into the room.

The first thing she noticed was the smell of sweat. Adora hadn’t really noticed it before, maybe because she’d been so used to it, but since the room was empty and no one was training, the smell was rather obvious. Her nose wrinkled as she glanced around. The room looked the same as usual, except for the fact that everything had been pushed to the sides to leave space in the middle of the room for almost a dozen dummies. The door slammed shut behind her and Adora jumped, turning back to glance at it. “Miss Grayskull, you have ten minutes to show us your chosen skill.” The Head Gamemaker said, his name was at the back of Adora's mind but she couldn’t recall it. She stared up the balcony for a few seconds, taking in each man standing there. Most of them were old and grey (even though they’d obviously tried to hide their wrinkles). “Miss Grayskull?” The Gamemaker called again.

Adora nodded and looked around for the sword station. Ten minutes, what could she do in ten minutes? As she jogged over to the station, she tried to think up a plan but nothing came. Adora probably spent too long finding the right sword, but as she stared at the wide range in front of her, nothing seemed to be taking her eye. There were about thirty different swords lined up, ranging in size, design and weight. After almost a full minute, she decided to go for the most normal looking sword there was. The sword (which she was pretty sure was a broadsword) was completely metal and the hilt had leather wrapped around it. Adora picked it off the table and immediately started to relax. She could do this! She knew how to use a sword and that was all that mattered.

Adora glanced back up at the Gamemakers and was rather surprised to see that they weren’t paying attention to her. She frowned, stepping closer to the balcony. Most of the men seemed to be talking and eating, Adora even saw one man asleep in his chair. Anger bubbled up in her chest, she had not gone through the last week to just be ignored. Adora coughed loudly, causing the men to jump. The Head Gamemaker turned to her, a brow raised. “May I present my skill or should I wait for you all to finish?” She asked, immediately regretting it. Now she’d done it! They were going to kill her off first because she’d been disrespectful. They were _taught_ to be respectful to the Gamemakers and Adora had just been sarcastic to them. But she kept her head high, glaring slightly.

Then the Head Gamemaker laughed. “You may present your skill, Miss Grayskull.” He said, gesturing to the dummies in the middle of the room.

“Thank you.” Adora nodded and tightened her hold on the sword as she walked over to the center of the room. She stood in the middle of the dummies for a few seconds, unsure. But then she closed her eyes and imagined she was back in the Academy. Slowly, she opened her eyes and swung her sword, cutting off the dummy’s right arm. Adora didn’t stop until the buzzer went after that. She didn’t understand how she could find something so violent so relaxing, but she did. Vaguely, she wondered if that made her a bad person. Surely it didn’t, she didn’t actually want to harm anyone with her weapon, she just likes to swing it around and hit things. But at the same time, she was wielding a very sharp weapon and - if she wanted to - could end a life. Just like Octavia. Adora knew there was a difference, Octavia wanted to hurt people, Adora didn’t. Adora didn’t want to be in the Games, she didn’t want to have to kill people, hell she didn’t even want to enroll in the Academy when she was younger. But she did, she was in the Academy, she had volunteered for the Games, she was going to kill people whether she wanted to or not. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

The buzzer shook Adora out of her thoughts and with one final slice, a dummy’s head dropped to the floor. Looking around, Adora noticed the extent of her session. There was no dummy left in one piece, some had only lost a single limb, but more often than not, they were reduced to nothing but a sliced torso. Adora panted, standing in the middle of her circle of destruction. She was also starting to notice a pain in her arm but that was probably because she hadn’t practiced for a week. From above her, someone started clapping. Adora glanced up and saw most of the men were out of their seats, looking down at her with a mixture of shock and amusement. Pride flared up in Adora’s chest as she scanned the men. Even the one that had been asleep at the start was sitting on the edge of his seat. Then the Head Gamemaker stopped clapping and stepped closer to the end of the balcony. “Alright, Miss Grayskull, you can go now.”

Adora nodded, stepping delicately over the plastic limbs and metal scraps to put the sword back on the table. “Thank you.” She said, trying to catch her breath as she left the room through a different door.

She let out a sigh of relief as the door shut behind her. The two Avoxes stood by the doors, smiled at her, Adora grinned back and put her thumbs up. Yeah, she thought it went well! By the looks on the Gamemaker’s faces, they hadn’t been expecting that so the surprise was bound to gain her a few extra points. Walking over to the elevator, she stopped for a second, debating whether to wait for Adam, but then she caught a whiff of herself and decided she could wait for him on their floor.

The ride up was much faster than usual, or maybe that was just because Adora wasn’t fidgeting nervously. She pulled her hair tie out and leaned against the crystalline walls. The ride up to her floor was short but nice. They were twelve floors from the top, Adora would’ve loved the penthouse floor, but she didn’t mind the one they were on. She could still see above the mountains and the sun reached her room, there wasn’t much else she could ask for.

The elevator doors stood open and Bow was revealed, leaning against the side table, reading a book. He looked up when Adora stepped out. “How did it go?” He asked enthusiastically.

A grin spread across her face. “I think it went well!” She said, walking over to him.

“What did you show them?” He put down his book and stood up

Adora shrugged. “Some sword stuff.” She said with a wink, deciding to leave out the part where she spoke to the Gamemakers in the way she did. In all honesty, Adora had already forgotten a lot of what she’d done. That usually happened after one of the showcases back in the Academy, _huh_ maybe all that ‘pretend you're back in the Academy’ stuff had paid off.

“Oh, you’re being secretive now?” Bow chuckled and started to walk down the hall.

Adora jogged to catch up with him (she knew he was fast but didn’t expect him to be _that_ fast). “I’ve been secretive this whole week.”

“Yeah, I don’t know why I expected you to tell me what you did.” Bow sighed, pouting slightly. The joy in his eyes was a surprise considering how closed off he’d been the rest of the week.

She hummed and nudged him slightly. “When I come back, I’ll tell you.”

“When? You’re extremely confident.” He laughed.

Adora laughed along with him. “Yeah, well I promised Glimmer I would come back, and I can’t break a promise.” She said as they turned into the dining area. Food was lining the main table, Adora grabbed a plate and started to fill it with food.

“Glimmer? The Mayor’s daughter?” Bow asked, inspecting a roll.

Adora’s mouth was full so she swallowed quickly and nodded. “Yeah. She’s a year younger than us, but we’ve known each other for as long as I can remember.” Adora smiled wistfully. She missed Glimmer, more than she cared to admit. They were as close as sisters and Adora had never really gone anywhere without Glimmer before. “She would love it here.” Adora said after a few seconds. Glimmer really would, maybe not the people… okay, certainly not the people, but she would love the fashion and architecture.

“Well then, you better win, Adora.” Bow sounded quite sad as he loaded his plate with some pork.

Adora nodded again. They sat quietly for a while, waiting for the telltale sound of the elevator that would drop off Adam. During that time, Adora remembered her question from that day on the train. “Bow?” He looked up from his book questioningly. “I just wondered why you volunteered? For your Games?” She asked, her voice getting weaker with each word. Adora wasn’t sure why she was scared of his reaction, if he was a normal victor, he would be proud of his Games and how he volunteered, becoming one of the youngest winners in District One’s history.

He finished his mouthful, dog-eared his page and sat up. “I volunteered because of a stupid dare.” Bow said. Adora frowned, she wasn't sure what she was expecting but it wasn’t that.

“A dare?” She asked, trying to hold back her laughter. “You volunteered because you were dared to do it?”

Bow nodded. “Yeah, most people think it’s because I wanted to be in the Games so badly, but it was actually because one of my brother’s friends dared me to volunteer.”

“And you went along with it because...?” She asked, leaning forward.

“I can’t forfeit a dare!” Bow sounded completely aghast, as if the thought of forfeiting was almost as bad as the dare itself. “Besides, the forfeit was to sneak out of the District and I didn’t want to become an Avox, so I volunteered instead.” He added with a shrug. Adora’s mouth hung open and she stared at him with wide eyes. “What?"

Adora shook her head. “Why didn’t you just say no?”

“Because, I was stupid and the idea of the Games was exhilarating.” He said it as if it was the most normal thing ever. Well, the Games were an extremely normal thing for them but somehow Adora wasn’t able to wrap her mind around what Bow had said. “Honestly, I didn't mind being a Tribute, it was my dads’ reactions when they came to send me off that scared me most.” He laughed at the memory. Adora huffed out a small laugh herself before going back to her meal.

Adora started to wonder if other Tributes had volunteered for stupid reasons. They probably had now that she thought about it. Over the years, she’d seen a lot of Tributes volunteer, some of them just looked proud, but a couple of times, some kids had been grinning like maniacs and pointing at their friends as if they’d just won something. Casta had always looked rather annoyed those years.

Two minutes later, Adam ran into the room, red and sweaty but grinning from ear to ear. Adora jumped out of her seat. “How was it?” She asked quickly.

“It was amazing!” He laughed and crossed the room to pull her into a hug. Adora squealed and pushed away.

“No, don’t cover me in sweat!” She cried, clambering over the couch to get away from him. “But I'm glad it went well!” She said in between laughs.

Adam’s grin turned more sincere. “Thank you, Adora. What about you?”

She nodded. “Yeah, it went good. But I’m not going to tell you what I did.” She tacked on the last bit when she saw Adam open his mouth.

He frowned and glanced at Bow. Bow shrugged and crossed his arms. “She didn’t tell me either.”

Adora grinned at them and started to leave. “I’ll see you both later.” She said as she turned the corner.

* * *

That evening was the results show. Adora sat curled up on the sofa, Adam was next to her bouncing his leg. On her other side, Perfuma was happily chatting to Bow about something, most likely the interviews tomorrow. Adam’s stylist, a tall, thin woman with golden hair, was working on her designs. Every time Adam tried to look at them, she would slam her pad shut and glare at him. Behind the seating area, Casta was pacing. “Casta, you should sit down.” Adora called, putting her head on the back of the couch so she could see Casta.

The woman turned to her. “I can’t sit down! I’m worried about it, what if you get low scores and lose sponsors? All my hard work, for nothing!” Casta threw her hands up and started pacing again.

Adora rolled her eyes. “We won't get low scores, Casta.” Adora yawned. The session had tired her out and all she wanted to do was sleep, but she wanted to find out her score so she’d stayed up.

“You never know, Adora. You might’ve done something to make them lower your score!” Casta cried. Adora froze, her face heating up. Did she know what she’d said? No, she couldn’t possibly know, who could’ve told her? “Adora?” Casta asked slowly, turning on her. Well, she must’ve noticed how Adora reacted then. “What on Earth did you do?” Her voice was low and threatening.

“I didn’t do anything!” Adora said, sinking down in her seat. She covered her face with a pillow, hiding the blush that was creeping up her neck.

“That sounds like you did something.” Adam said, it was obvious he was holding back a laugh.

“Yeah, Adora. You might as well tell us now, just in case something bad happens.” Perfuma said gently and suddenly Adora was glad she was there.

Sighing, she turned to look at perfuma but kept the pillow there because it was actually quite comfortable. “I may have talked back to them.” She said in a whisper. Perfuma’s eyes widened and Adora felt a pit open in her stomach.

“You did what?” Casta asked, her voice was suddenly very close to Adora.

“Spoke back to them.” 

Casta made a sound that reminded Adora of a dying cat. “You spoke back to them?” She asked, her voice shrill. Adora nodded, hiding her face in the pillow again. “Adora Grayskull, do you know that your bad behaviour reflects badly on all of us?”

“Bad behaviour? Casta she just spoke back to them.” Bow said. “Besides, what exactly can they do to her? She’s going into the Games in a day and a bit, there's not much else they can do.” He added. Adora peered at him over the pillow, sending him a small smile.

“Yeah, Casta it can’t get much worse than that.” Adam piped up, pressing his leg against Adora’s. “Besides, the show is about to start.”

Casta huffed and started talking, only to get cut off by the anthem. She went to sit down and Adora sat up slightly so she could see the screen. The anthem finished and on the screen appeared the presenter of all things to do with the Games: Double Trouble. They sat at their desk, flashing a white grin to the camera. Each year, they had a different colour scheme, that year was green. Much like Grass, their skin was tinted light green, however Double Trouble didn’t have green hair. Their hair was long and white and slicked back against their head and they were wearing a bright, green, sparkly suit.

“Hello, Etheria! I’m DT and I’m honoured to welcome you all to the results show! This evening, I will go through each Tribute and tell you their score. Each Tribute is scored on a scale of one to twelve and it’s based on their performance over the week and their private session that took place this afternoon.” Adora didn’t understand why they explained it each year, everyone knew what was going on. “Now, onto the tributes. From District One, Adam Moore,” Adam sat up, his leg stilling, “with a score of… ten.” Adam jumped out of his seat, cheering and high-fiving anyone he could. Adora didn’t move though, too worried about her own score. What if it was low and she embarrassed the whole District? She wouldn’t put it past the Gamemakers to score her as low as possible. “The female tribute from District One, Adora Grayskull,” The room stilled and Perfuma clutched Adora’s sweaty hand in her own. “With a score of…” Adora started to fiddle with her hair as she kept her eyes on the screen that showed her face. “Eleven.”

Adora took in a sharp breath. _Eleven?_ Around her, the room erupted in screams and cheers. Perfuma had pulled her into a tight hug and Adam was jumping around happily. “How did I do that?” She laughed.

“They must’ve been impressed.” Bow said, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

“Yeah, they must’ve.” She grinned.

They decided to watch the rest of the show, Adora’s excuse was “So we can get an idea of the others.” But in reality, she just wanted to see what Catra got.

It didn’t take long before her familiar frown flashed on the screen. “Catra Weaver, with a score of eleven.” A few people gasped.

“How did someone from such a low District get eleven?” Casta asked, looking around with wide eyes. Adora shrugged and tried to hide her smile.

Dinner that night was a celebration. Both the stylists and the rest of their teams were there and everyone was laughing and talking. For a while, Adora forgot all her worries and just let herself enjoy the meal. The celebrations went quite late into the night, and at about two in the morning Adam pulled her aside, smiling brightly. “So, Catra got an eleven. You jealous?” He asked once they’d settled onto the couch.

Adora laughed and threw a pillow at him. “No I’m not! And, for your information, I wasn’t jealous at the parade either.”

“Are you sure? You looked really upset when she came out in that costume.” He grinned, hugging the pillow to his chest.

“You’re so fucking annoying.” Adora giggled, kicking him gently.

“Stop trying to change the subject! It’s just a yes or no answer, were you jealous?” He had a stupid grin on his face, like he knew the answer. Adora frowned and stuck her tongue out.

“What’s the chance of you going away if I don’t give you my answer.”

Adam laughed and sunk into the pillows behind him. “Slim to none.”

Adora groaned. “Ugh, fine. Yes, I was jealous of her.” She mumbled.

Grinning like a fool, Adam put his hand behind his ear. “Sorry, I didn’t quite get that.”

“I was jealous of her.” Adora said, a little louder this time. She hated to admit it, but there she was.

“A _little_ louder.”

It was Adora’s turn to grin. She moved from her seat at the other end of the couch so she was right by Adam’s ear. “I was jealous of her!” Adora shouted. Adam screamed and pushed her away. She toppled off the couch, laughing loudly.

“What the fuck, Adora?” He asked, trying (and failing) to glare angrily at her.

“Did you hear me clear enough, old man?” She said innocently, standing up and sitting back down into her seat.

“Loud and clear.” He grumbled, resting his head on the arm of the couch.

Adora decided to get comfortable too. She curled up in a ball, sandwiching a pillow between her chest and her knees. She quickly got tired, the adrenaline running out of her system leaving her with nothing but an exhausted and aching body. Adora knew she should go to her room, but at that moment it felt extremely far away and the couch was very comfortable. _It would hurt to sleep here for a little bit_ , a voice reasoned. Adora agreed and closed her eyes, letting the sounds of the celebration (both on their floor and outside) lull her to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Adora woke up to someone gently calling her name. “Five more minutes Mar.” she grumbled and tried to roll over, but found she couldn’t.

“Adora, come on, Casta wants you in your room in like, ten minutes.” _That’s not Mara._ Adora’s eyes snapped open and she was met with Adam looking down at her, a small smile on his face.

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty.” He said, stepping back as Adora pushed herself up.

“What… what time is it?” She asked through a yawn. Looking through the big window, she could see that the sun had fully risen. She also noticed that she was not, in fact, in her room but on the couch.

Adam, who had moved to sit on one of the arm chairs, shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe half ten?”

Adora sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. “You’re so unhelpful.” She mumbled, glancing around for a clock. Adam grinned at her but didn’t say anything, too busy drinking something from a mug. Once Adora located a clock, she saw that it was ten past ten. “You were twenty minutes early.” She told him, frowning slightly.

“I’m serious though, Casta wants you so she can talk to you about your interview.” Adam told her as she left the room.

Right, so the interviews were today which means she couldn’t find Catra and congratulate her on her eleven. Maybe she could find her after the interviews, or maybe find a way to tell her to meet back at that corridor again? Adora didn’t waste much time getting a whole meal, she just grabbed a few rolls and made her way to her room, not wanting to upset Casat for a third time.

When she walked in, Casta was standing over her bed, inspecting several ball gowns. Adora walked up behind her, peering over her shoulder. Three dresses were laid out, each one more extravagant than the last. “Hey Casta, you wanted me?” She asked.

Casta jumped and spun around, glaring slightly. “Don’t you know it’s rude to look over someone’s shoulder?”

Adora did know that, but she didn’t really care. “So, the dresses are here for…?” She asked, gesturing to her bed. She couldn’t be wearing one of those, they were all hideous.

Casta grinned. “Practice!” She said happily, clapping her hands together.

“Practice? Casta I know how to wear a dress.” Adora laughed weakly.

Casta hummed. “I suppose, but it wouldn’t hurt.” She picked up a pink dress with a huge skirt. “Now, put this on!”

Adora nodded and slipped into the bathroom to change. The dress was slightly big on her and the skirt dragged on the floor. Sighing, she tied her hair up in a ponytail and left the bathroom. Casta frowned when she saw her but didn’t say anything about how she looked. “Okay, now walk for me.”

“Huh?” Adora asked.

Casta rolled her eyes. “Walk up and down. I need to see how you do it.” So Adora did. Apparently, she had perfect posture and knew how to hold herself. Of course she did, Mara had taught her how to present herself since she could walk, it was almost second nature to her. The rest of the morning was spent trying on different dresses and heels and learning how to balance in the tall heels. Adora didn’t really hate it, but she certainly couldn’t wait for her session to end and Bow’s session to start. Casta seemed to have a critique on almost anything, from the way Adora held her skirt to the way she stepped down the stairs. She had to refrain from rolling her eyes every five minutes. But she knew it would be worth it in the end so she made sure she was less frowny than usual.

In the end, Casta seemed pleased with what she’d accomplished and let Adora go half an hour early. Once she’d changed out of her dress, she practically ran to the food table. Casta hadn’t let her eat anything in fear of spoiling her dresses so Adora was hungry.

She was halfway through her meal when Adam and Bow came through a door Adora hadn’t seen before. “You guys have fun?” She asked, smiling brightly.

Adam winked at her and started to fill up his plate. “What did you do?”

“Tried on dresses.” Adora said through a mouthful of potatoes. Adam’s nose wrinkled as he sat down next to her.

“Why did you do that?” Bow and Adam asked at the same time. Adora raised a brow as they high-fived.

She shrugged and swallowed. “Learning how to walk like a proper lady?” She replied, laughing slightly.

“Do I have to do that too?” Adam asked, looking at Bow with wide eyes.

Bow shook his head. “No, you’ll probably just have to learn, like, posture and stuff.” Adora nodded and pointed her fork at Bow in agreeance. “See, you’ll be fine. Just don’t piss her off.” He said with a smile.

An hour later, Bow and Adora were sitting on two chairs in Adora’s room. “So, Adora, there’s something you should know.” He said seriously.

Adora sat forward, anxiety growing in her stomach. “What? What is it?”

Bow took in a deep breath. “The Capitol. They seem to think that you and Adam are…” He trailed off, and looked at her sympathetically.

“They think that we’re what, Bow?” She asked.

“In love.” His voice cracked.

Adora went still, blinked at him, and then burst out laughing. “What? Me and Adam? In love?” She snorted.

Bow didn’t seem to find it as funny. “Adora, I’m serious. They think you’re deeply in love with him.”

“What? Why?” She asked, the grin slipping off her face.

Bow sighed. “Because of the parade.”

“We hugged.” Adora said bluntly, sitting back.

“Yeah, well. They didn’t see it like that.” He said with a shrug.

“There was no other way _to_ see it!” Adora said, her voice growing louder.

“Look, Adora I know you aren’t happy with this, but there’s nothing we can do. You _have_ to pretend to love him. If Double Trouble asks you any questions about him, you have to respond as though you’re in love.” Adora opened her mouth to object but Bow continued. “I mean it, Adora. This might just help you get sponsors. This could help you win, so you have to pretend.”

“What about Adam, does he know? She asked, sitting back with a scowl.

“Yeah, he knows and he’s not too happy about it either.” Bow said, standing up. He started pacing.

Adora let it settle. She didn’t like having to pretend, she didn’t even see Adam like that. She saw him more as an annoyance that she’s grown to like. “What should I do?”

“If you get asked any questions about him, which you probably will, I need you to think about someone you love. Not just love as a friend, but someone you don’t think you could live without. Can you do that?” Adora nodded. She didn’t know who that would be. Her mind would usually go to Glimmer, but then it started to wander to someone else. No, no she’ll just have to think about Glimmer. But that was weird because she didn’t like Glimmer like that. She saw Glimmer as more of a sister than anything else.

“Okay. I’ll do that.” She sighed, resigning herself to that fate. Maybe being in love with Adam wouldn’t be so bad, after all, it wouldn’t be for long. “I’m not kissing him though.” She added. Bow looked at her with a raised brow. “In the Games. I’m not going to kiss him.” She said firmly.

Bow sighed but nodded. “Okay fine, just… Make sure it’s believable.” He said, standing up and turning to leave. Adora wasn’t sure why he was going, they still had a few hours. But they both knew nothing would come from it. She was going to have to be in love with Adam whether she wanted to or not.

Not even five minutes after Bow had left, Perfuma ran in, followed by her team. Adora stood up and smiled, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind. “You’re here early.” She stated as the team bustled around her. Grass pulled at her hair and Adora yelped.

“Yeah, Bow told us you’d finished early so we took that to our advantage.” Orchid said, pulling Adora into a hug. Adora squeezed her tightly, taking in her sweet scent.

“Okay, Fauna, you do her hands. Orchid, hair and Grass. You’re on face and body duty.” Perfuma ordered as she ran about, closing curtains and moving around chairs and such. “Adora, can you take a quick shower, please?” She called as she flew out of the room.

Adora turned to Orchid with a questioning look. “She’s always like this on interview day.” Orchid smiled and pushed Adora towards the bathroom. “Be back out in five minutes.”

Her shower was much less relaxing than usual. Even over the sound of running water, she could hear her team running around and shouting to each other. She didn’t want to stress them out so she showered in three minutes and slipped on a robe just in case they wanted to draw on her body. When she stepped out of the bathroom, her room looked almost completely different. Most of the chairs and table scattered around had been pushed aside, in the middle of the room stood a metal table and shelves of makeup and hair products (where they got that, Adora would never know).

Fauna dragged Adora to the table. “Sit up there, we’ll start straight away!” She said giddily and moved away to talk with Orchid. Adora nodded and pulled herself onto the table, laying down just like she had when she arrived. Fauna was right when she said straight away, Adora hadn’t even got comfortable yet when Grass started to pluck her eyebrows (how they had grown back that fast, Adora didn’t know). Adora didn’t even wiggle, just let them get on with it.

For the next few hours, her team ran circles around her, chatting consistently. Adora tuned them out. Her team was drawing on her in gold pencil and fiddling with her hair. Adora felt heat and knew that they were curling her hair. She didn’t know why though, because her hair was already curly, they probably just didn’t like the way it looked and decided to change it. Fauna was focusing intently on her hands, filing and painting each nail to perfection and then continuing the golden swirls down her arm. Grass was bobbing in and out of her vision, doing God knows what. That time, Adora didn’t find it as annoying as she did the first time. It was probably because she’d gotten over her anger and upset - well, she’d pushed it deep into the back of her mind for the while.

At one point, Adora must’ve fallen asleep because the next thing she remembered was Orchid sitting her up with a small smile on her face. “We’re all done, Adora. Just waiting for Perfuma.”

“She hasn’t come back?” Adora asked, blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

“No, there was a mishap with your dress but it’s all sorted now, don’t worry.” She said quietly, finishing up Adora’s hair.

Adora nodded and looked around. Fauna and Grass were standing a few feet away from the table, talking to each other. “Thank you all.” Adora really did mean it.

“Thank _you_ for being such a good model.” Grass laughed. Adora laughed along but didn’t really get it, she just didn’t want to come off as rude.

It was then Perfuma pushed the door, panting and holding a bag carefully. Adora sat up, eyeing the white bag that held her dress. “Okay you three, I’ll take it from here.” Perfuma said, turning away to fiddle with something.

Just as Orchid was leaving, she turned to Adora and gave her a lopsided smile. “You’ll look beautiful tonight, Adora.” And then she was gone and Perfuma was fussing over her. Only then did Adora realise that that could be the last time she saw her team. Adora tried to ignore the sadness growing in her stomach. She’s only spoken to her team a few times but, in a strange way, they were rather comforting and Adora found herself missing their constant chatter about nothing.

“Okay, so it seems like they remembered the gold this time!” Perfuma’s cheery voice shook Adora’s sadness off. She smiled at the woman. Oh, you are going to look beautiful tonight!” Perfuma sounded confident and Adora found herself believing her. “Now, I’ll help you get dressed.” She pulled the bag onto the table and laid it out. Adora slipped off and stood by Perfuma. She unzipped the bag and Adora gasped. The dress was short, by the looks of it the skirt would only fall about halfway down her thighs. The design was simple, mainly white but with a golden, floral design on the bodice.

Once again, it fit Adora perfectly. She was right about the skirt, it was short however there were many underskirts and layers so it puffed out a lot. Perfuma then handed her a simple pair of golden sandals, the straps wound around her legs up to her knees. “They’re called Gladiator sandals.” Perfuma informed her. “Gladiators were warriors.”

“So you’re sticking with that theme?” Adora asked, sitting back on the table so she could tug them on.

“Yep, a lot of people liked it!” Perfuma said proudly, handing Adora a small tiara. This one was just a simple golden band that went around her head.

“Really?” She mumbled, staring at herself in the mirror. Adora hardly recognised herself. Her hair fell in loose curls around her shoulders, her bangs had been parted and now curtained her face. Orchid also added a few braids that Perfuma had twisted around the tiara, adding to the plant look of the swirls and bodice. Grass hadn’t done as much as she expected him to do. He’d contoured her face and her eye makeup was golden swirls, matching the ones on her arms and legs. Fauna had spent the whole time on her nails and Adora was glad she did. They were all the perfect length, and each finger had a simple golden design on them. Simple but effective.

“Mhm.” Perfuma hummed. “Made you likeable.”

“I was already likeable.” Adora said with a smile.

Perfuma laughed. “Of course you were. Now stop fidgeting, you’re on first so we need to get down there.” Adora’s smile slipped off her face. _First_? She didn’t think she could go first. How could she open the show? Perfuma noticed her worry and placed a gentle hand on her back. “You’ll be fine Adora. Everyone loves you, just be yourself!” She comforted as they walked out of the room. _And in love with Adam._ The voice in the back of her head reminded her.

“What do you mean ‘everybody loves you’?” She asked as they headed to the elevator.

“You’re extremely popular. You, Adam and the pair from Seven. But that’s only because they wore fire.” Perfuma ended bitterly.

Adora laughed. “Hey, your designs were better. You didn’t have to use anything extra to make us stand out, Seven did.”

“I suppose that’s true, yeah!” Perfuma grinned at Adora as they stepped into the elevator.

“Of course it’s true.” Adora said, bumping her shoulder against Perfuma’s. The trip down to the studio floor was short and spent fidgeting. Adora tried to not tug at her hair keeping her hands clasped together in front of her.

The elevator doors opened to the backstage area. Only a few other Tributes were there, Octavia and Rogelio, along with a few from lower Districts Adora didn’t recognise. She pointedly ignored Octavia as Perfuma dragged her over to the wings of the stage. Through the gaps in the wings, she could hear the roar of the crowd and see Double Trouble standing on stage in their green suit. Adora’s heart started to pound as Double Trouble started talking. “Good evening, citizens of Etheria! Welcome to the Tribute interviews! How are you doing tonight?” They asked and the studio erupted in cheers and screams. Adora gulped, and looked at Perfuma with wide eyes.

“I don’t think I can do this.” She whispered, voice cracking. Adora didn’t remember the last time she was that nervous. Her hands were starting to get sweaty and she could feel her pulse in her fingertips.

“Of course you can! I know it seems scary but once you get out there and start talking you’ll be fine. Besides, it’s only two minutes!” Perfuma said, patting Adora on the back. “But I need to go. Good luck!” She whispered before speeding off to get into her spot.

Adora nodded numbly and waited in the wings. “I can do this. Just keep talking.” She kept telling herself, clenching her fists at her sides.

“Now, our first Tribute” Double Trouble called. Adora gasped and squeezed her eyes shut. Her heart was pounding so hard she half expected it to fly out of her chest. “From District One, the lovely Adora Grayskull.”

 _Shit, shit, shit, shit._ She stepped onto the stage, grinning brightly. The audience was so loud in Adora’s ears, it was deafening but she kept going until she reached the middle of the stage where two chairs were set up. Adora took a deep breath and tried to stop her hands from shaking as she waved to the audience. The lights were blinding and Adora struggled to see the audience through them

It took the cheers a while to die down, but finally Double Trouble turned to her. “Welcome Adora, how are you tonight?” They asked as they sat down. Adora almost didn’t hear them over the sound of her own heart.

Adora picked up the microphone on her seat, her hands shaking as she did, and held it to her mouth. “Yeah, I’m great, thank you!” She replied, surprised at how steady her voice sounded. It was a total lie but maybe if she said it enough times it would come true.

They laughed and flashed a bright grin. “Well, we’re glad to hear that!” Adora laughed as the audience cheered. “Now, how are you finding the Capitol, Adora?”

“Oh, it’s beautiful.” She realised she really meant it. In the week she’d been there, Adora hadn’t left the Tribute Center since she’d arrived, but she enjoyed looking out of her window at every chance she could get. Even if the view was the same, there was always something new. Adora noticed Double Trouble looking at her, seemingly wanting her to talk about it more. “Like, you know the view? From my window? It’s like I can see the whole city from there. It’s so _different_ from One.” She said.

“Different? How so?”

Adora scanned the audience, thousands of people were staring at her, she took a deep breath and tried to ignore them. “Well, for one, our buildings aren’t as tall. Like, usually we have one or two stories. Here, it’s as if they’re touching the sky. In all honesty, I’m not quite sure how they stay up.” She ended with a shaky laugh, her nerves suddenly catching up to her. What if she didn’t lie well enough and the caught on? How would she get sponsors then?

But Double Trouble just laughed and nodded. “Yes, well I don’t think anyone could answer that!” They laughed loudly, grinning to the audience. Adora nodded and joined in the laughter. After a few seconds, they turned back to her. “So, Adora, do you think you’re ready for the games?”

 _Physically speaking, yes I am. Mentally and emotionally, not at all,_ was the answer she wanted to go for but that would make her look weak. But she didn’t want to seem overly confident either. “We’ll have to see about that, DT.” She said instead. It wasn’t a great answer but it was mysterious enough to keep the Capitol entertained.

“Now, how about you and Adam, huh?” They asked, wiggling their eyebrows.

Adora froze, but quickly recovered. “Me and Adam? We’re doing well, _really_ well,” She smiled sweetly, Maybe she laid it on a bit thick, but they probably wouldn’t notice.

“Oh isn't that just wonderful.” They turned to the audience. “Isn’t that just wonderful, folks?” The audience erupted in cheers and screams. Once it had died down, Double Trouble turned back to her. “One final question, Adora. What's your plan for the arena?”

Adora giggled. “You’ll just have to wait and see. I’m not going to start spilling all my secrets, DT. We wouldn’t have time.” _Secrets_. She had one, and she wasn’t ready to share that with anyone, she hardly wanted to admit it herself. Double Trouble laughed and started to say something, thankfully the buzzer cut them off. Adora thanked them and the audience and quickly made her way off the stage.

Adora crossed the stage, waving and smiling as she went. The audience was cheering and clapping. Just as Adora stepped into the wings, Adam stepped out from the other side of the stage, he was wearing a simple white suit with golden trim. Adora turned and gave him a small smile, sticking her thumbs up. He winked at her as he sat down, picking up the microphone she’d left behind.

She wanted to stay there and watch his interview, but someone was pulling her away. Adora turned to see Casta, talking quickly, a huge grin on her face. “Adora, that was brilliant! They loved you! Oh, you’re bound to get a thousand sponsors!”

“I was the first to go, Casta, you don’t know that yet.” Adora said, pulling herself out of Casta’s grip.

Casta just tutted and continued to walk. It appeared that they were circling around the back of the stage. With every step they took, Adora could hear chatter getting louder. Adora hoped Catra was there, she wanted to talk to her, congratulate her on her eleven. Casta pushed the door open to the backstage area, pushing past other Tributes and their stylists to the elevators. Adora glanced around, trying to catch a glimpse of Catra.

She found her standing by the elevators, her stylist faffing with the skirt of her dress. Adora noticed the look on Catra’s face and almost burst out laughing. The girl looked ready to murder someone. “Hey, Catra.” Adora called. Casta shot her a look, but Adora ignored it.

Catra looked up, her eyes softening the tiniest amount. “Princess! I didn't know you had such feelings for Adam!” She sounded sarcastic but Adora caught the slightest hint of sincerity.

Adora rolled her eyes and smiled. “You look good.” She replied as Casta stopped by the elevators and pressed the button. Catra scowled and crossed her arms. Catra was wearing a dark green dress that hugged her body, Adora guessed the dress was made from velvet by the way the light reflected off it. Her hair had been straightened and put in a high ponytail. It looked rather tight, and odd on Catra, Adora had become used to seeing her with a braid or her hair down.

“Thanks.” Catra grit out. She obviously didn’t like her outfit, Adora made a mental note to ask her why the next time they spoke.

The tell tale _ding_ of the elevator came, telling Adora it was time to leave. “I’ll see you around, Girl on Fire. Good luck tonight.” She smiled, stepping into the elevator. Just before the doors closed behind her, she mouthed ‘ _corridor, tonight'._ Catra nodded and waved quickly before going back to glaring darkly at her stylist's head.

“Adora, do you know her?” Casta asked once they started moving.

She nodded. “Yeah.” Adora didn’t want to talk about Catra with Casta because she knew she would say something stupid.

“Right.” Casta mumbled. “Well, I think you did a really good out there Adora.”

“Thank you.” Adora smiled and started to fiddle with her hair.

When they got back to their floor, Bow was standing there. As soon as Adora stepped out, he ran up to her and hugged her. “That was amazing Adora! They loved you!” He grinned, stepping away. Vaguely, Adora noticed Casta step back into the elevator, probably going to wait for Adam.

Adora felt herself relax, her heart rate finally starting to slow. “I hope so.” Then she frowned. “Bow, I'm sorry I spoke to you like that earlier.” He’d probably forgotten about it, but Adora knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep if she didn’t apologise.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it! It’s not the worst thing someone’s ever said to me.” He joked, but stopped when he saw Adora’s face. Gently, he grabbed her shoulders. “I’m serious Adora, I forgive you.”

“Are you sure?” She whispered.

Bow nodded and squeezed Adora shoulders. “I’m sure. Bow go and get changed, we can watch the rest of the interviews when you’re ready.”

“What about Adam’s?” She asked, reaching up to untie her hair.

“We can watch it back if you really want to.” Bow smiled, pushing Adora towards her room. She nodded and thanked him as she stepped into her room.

Adora quickly removed her hairband, dress and shoes, laying them out carefully on a chair by the door. She didn’t want to shower again, so she got changed immediately. She slipped on a shirt and a pair of loose shorts. After tying her hair up, she washed the makeup off her face and body. With each passing seconds, her hands got less shaky as she shook off the nerves from the interview. All that was over now, all she had left to do was the Games.

_The Games._

“Shit.” She whispered to her reflection. The Games were tomorrow. Soon, twenty three kids would be dead. Adora felt a lump rise in her throat and suddenly she didn’t want to watch the interviews. She felt her legs wobble and she gripped the sink tightly. The happiness that had followed her interview had turned into fear. Tight, constricting fear that Adora couldn’t ignore anymore. She’d been ignoring it all week, hoping it would go awake. But it had finally caught up with her and all Adora couldn’t stop it.

People were going to die. _Children_ were going to die. Adora was going to kill people, she knew that. She could feel her stomach churning and suddenly she was glad she was in her bathroom and not in the main room with everyone else. Adam was bound to be done by that point.

If Adora was going to win, Adam would have to die, So would Catra. Adora pressed a hand over her mouth, trying to muffle her sobs. Her legs wobbled and this time she couldn’t hold herself up. She dropped to the floor, hardly registering the pain that shot through her knees. Tears dripped down onto her legs, but she paid them no attention. Dead, Catra and Adam were going to be dead. Maybe Adora would be the person that killed them, if it came down to it. Or, maybe they would kill her. Maybe she wouldn’t even make it out and Glimmer would lose her best friend.

That was the final straw for Adora. She let out a strangled cry and dissolved into a fit of sobs. Distantly, she could hear someone calling her name. Adora tried to reply but she couldn’t say anything through her sobs. She could feel someone touching her arms, running their fingers through her hair but she couldn’t make anything out through the blur of tears. All she could see was a blob of white. Adora could hear them talking but couldn’t make out the words, it didn’t matter though, just feeling the vibration of their voice was enough to start calming her down.

She didn’t know how long it was until she could make out what the person was saying, but it was long enough for her sobs to be reduced to hiccups. “-Okay, you’re okay, Adora.” She recognised the voice and almost pushed Adam away. Adora couldn’t have even if she wanted to, her arms felt like lead. “It’s alright, Adora, I promise.” His voice was soft, softer than Adora had ever heard him speak. Her mind was screaming at her to move. _He’s going to die, you idiot!_

Adora didn’t listen to the voice in her head as she wriggled slightly. “Adam?” Her throat felt dry, almost like it had never felt a drop of water.

“Hey, Adora. You with me now?” He asked, squeezing her gently.

Adora nodded, an embarrassed blush rising up her neck. She didn’t know why she was embarrassed, it was just Adam and Adora knew that if she asked he wouldn’t tell anyone. But she knew that she was just embarrassed because he had to see her like that. He had to see her at her most vulnerable. “Sorry.” She whispered,

“No, don’t apologise. Sometimes you just need to let it all out.” He told her, rubbing her back gently.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes with her arm. “But you didn’t need to see it.”

Adam shrugged. “It’s alright, my sister sometimes gets like that at home. Especially on presentation days at the Academy. She’s only twelve so it’s her first year.” Adora looked up and saw that he had a sad smile on his face.

“What’s her name?” Adora asked, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Velvet.” He whispered.

Adora froze. That was the name of the girl she volunteered for. “Was she the one...”

“Yeah, she was.” Adam said quietly, his hand stilled in Adora’s hair. She turned to look up at him.

“She’ll be fine, Adam.” _If I win, I’ll look after her._ She left that part out, not wanting Adam to think about that. He probably was though, how could he not?

“Yeah, I know. I just miss her.” His voice wobbled and Adora felt her heart crack. Adam had a family too. How would they be feeling about the Games? Were they proud? Or worried sick? What about the lie? How they were in love?

Adora nodded. “I miss my family too.” She whispered back.

They sat on the floor for a few more minutes before Adam noticed Adora start to yawn. “Adora, maybe you should go to bed?” He asked.

“Mmm, yeah.” She said quietly, shuffling off Adam and pulling herself up. Adam stood up next to her, brushing off his pants. Only then did Adora realise he was still wearing his suit from the interview. She pouted. “I didn’t see your interview.” She said sadly.

Adam blinked at her before starting to laugh. “I just found you crying on your bathroom floor and you’re upset about missing my interview?” he asked between laughs.

Adora’s pout deepened. “Yeah, I was excited to watch yours. I wanted to hear about how much you love me.” She ended with a wet smile.

“Oh my God, Adora, you’re so sweet. And don’t worry, I spent half the time talking about you. Fuck, my boyfriend is going to be so mad.” He chuckled, slinging an arm around her shoulder and walking with her to her bed.

“Boyfriend?” Adora asked. She didn’t know why she was surprised, she just hadn’t thought about Adam being in love.

“Yeah, my boyfriend.” He sounded sad, so Adora didn’t press. As soon as they reached the foot of her bed, Adora flopped onto it, pressing her face against the mattress. Adam sat down next to her. “Okay, what should I tell Bow and Casta?” He asked.

Adora shrugged and rolled over so she was staring at the ceiling. “Maybe that my nerves got too much and I threw up?”

Adam sighed and stood up. “Yeah, I’ll tell them that. You should try and get some sleep Adora. I’ll see you tomorrow.” His voice was getting further away.

Just before he left the room, Adora pushed herself up onto her elbows. “Thank you, Adam. You didn’t need to do that.”

“It’s no problem.” He smiled at her. “Now go to sleep. You need your energy for tomorrow.”

“Yeah, tomorrow.” She mumbled as he closed the door behind him. Adora fell back onto the bed and waited. She waited until all the lights had been turned off and she was sure everyone was asleep. Then she pulled herself up, slipped on a fluffy robe and slipped out of her room to find Catra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, just a quick note: no adora and adam aren't in love, never will be in love, they're both gay. the capitol is just dumb as hell and thinks friends hugging is romantic love now
> 
> come and tell me your opinions and theories on tumblr: historianadora
> 
> thank you so much for reading, i hope you enjoyed!!


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